James Shigeta

Person

James Shigeta

Acting June 17, 1929

Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA

James Saburo Shigeta (June 17, 1929 – July 28, 2014) was an American actor, singer, and musician of Japanese descent. He was noted for his roles in The Crimson Kimono (1959), Walk…

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Known for

Popular titles

Die Hard

Die Hard

7.8 1988 Movie
Mulan

Mulan

7.9 1998 Movie
Avatar: The Last Airbender

Avatar: The Last Airbender

8.8 2005 TV Show
Little House on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie

8.0 1974 TV Show
Beverly Hills, 90210

Beverly Hills, 90210

7.3 1990 TV Show
Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote

7.5 1984 TV Show
The Love Boat

The Love Boat

6.3 1977 TV Show
Magnum, P.I.

Magnum, P.I.

7.3 1980 TV Show
Babylon 5

Babylon 5

8.0 1994 TV Show
Perry Mason

Perry Mason

7.7 1957 TV Show
Airwolf

Airwolf

7.6 1984 TV Show
Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible

7.6 1966 TV Show

Biography

A closer look

Read full biography

James Saburo Shigeta (June 17, 1929 – July 28, 2014) was an American actor, singer, and musician of Japanese descent. He was noted for his roles in The Crimson Kimono (1959), Walk Like a Dragon (1960), Flower Drum Song (1961), Bridge to the Sun (1961), Die Hard (1988), and Mulan (1998). In 1960, he won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, along with three other actors. In his early career, Shigeta often played romantic male lead roles, which were almost nonexistent for an actor of Asian descent during his time, making him a trailblazer in Asian American representation in media. The Goldsea Asian-American Daily magazine listed him as one of the "Most Inspiring Asian-Americans Of All Time". Before his Hollywood career he found success as a pop singer and performer abroad, especially in Japan and Australia.

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

  1. 2025
    Beam Me Up, Sulu

    Movie Self

  2. 2022
    Yorktown: A Time to Heal

    Movie Admiral Heilachiro Nogura

  3. 2019
    Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

    Movie (archive footage)

  4. 2009
    The People I've Slept With

    Movie Charles Yang

  5. 2007
    Hollywood Chinese

    Movie Self

  6. 2006
    The Slanted Screen

    Movie Himself

  7. 2005
    Avatar: The Last Airbender

    TV show Old Wanderer (voice)

  8. 2003
    Threat Matrix

    TV show Kang Sok-Joo

  9. 2000
    Brother

    Movie Sugimoto

  10. 1999
    Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century

    Movie Narrator

  11. 1998
    Mulan

    Movie General Li (voice)

  12. 1997
    Drive

    Movie Mr. Lau

  13. 1996
    The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

    TV show Inspector Mantjur (voice)

  14. 1996
    Space Marines

    Movie Ambassador Nakamura

  15. 1995
    Midnight Man

    Movie Mao Mak

  16. 1995
    Cybill

    TV show Mr. Matsuzaki

More credits
  1. 1994
    Cage II: The Arena of Death

    Movie Tin Lum Yin

  2. 1994
    Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die

    Movie Det. Whoo

  3. 1994
    Babylon 5

    TV show Taro Isogi

  4. 1993
    seaQuest DSV

    TV show Vietnamese President Chi

  5. 1992
    Renegade

    TV show

  6. 1990
    China Cry

    Movie Dr. Sung

  7. 1990
    Beverly Hills, 90210

    TV show Ben Sosna

  8. 1990
    Home from the Eastern Sea

    Movie Narrator

  9. 1989
    Cage

    Movie Tin Lum Yin

  10. 1988
    Slaying the Dragon

    Movie

  11. 1988
    Die Hard

    Movie Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi

  12. 1987
    Jake and the Fatman

    TV show Mr. Koso Nakasone

  13. 1984
    Murder, She Wrote

    TV show John Sukahara

  14. 1984
    Airwolf

    TV show Colonel Tranh Van Zung

  15. 1983
    Masquerade

    TV show Makko

  16. 1983
    The Hitchhiker

    TV show Nishi

  17. 1982
    Matt Houston

    TV show Lin Ha

  18. 1982
    The Renegades

    Movie Jimmy Lee

  19. 1982
    Tomorrow's Child

    Movie Donald Shibura

  20. 1982
    T. J. Hooker

    TV show Chow Duc Khan

  21. 1981
    Simon & Simon

    TV show

  22. 1980
    Magnum, P.I.

    TV show Richard Enoka

  23. 1980
    Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb

    Movie Field Marshal Abehata

  24. 1979
    Samurai

    Movie Takeo Chisato