Acting
Community Rating
5.9
1 Ratist review
Born
June 17, 1929
Died
July 28, 2014 (age 85)
Born in
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 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.

Beam Me Up, Sulu
as Self
2025

Yorktown: A Time to Heal
as Admiral Heilachiro Nogura
2022

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
as (archive footage)
2019

The People I've Slept With
as Charles Yang
2009

Hollywood Chinese
as Self
2007

The Slanted Screen
as Himself
2006

Avatar: The Last Airbender
as Old Wanderer (voice)
2005

Threat Matrix
as Kang Sok-Joo
2003

Brother
as Sugimoto
2000
Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century
as Narrator
1999

Mulan
as General Li (voice)
1998

Drive
as Mr. Lau
1997

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
as Inspector Mantjur (voice)
1996

Space Marines
as Ambassador Nakamura
1996

Midnight Man
as Mao Mak
1995

Cybill
as Mr. Matsuzaki
1995

Cage II: The Arena of Death
as Tin Lum Yin
1994

Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
as Det. Whoo
1994

Babylon 5
as Taro Isogi
1994

seaQuest DSV
as Vietnamese President Chi
1993