PAT NORIYUKI MORITA R.I.P.
"I could kill you with these"
Pat Morita died yesterday at the age of 73. I know many Asian Americans tend to be a little ambivalent around his legacy - like many Asian American actors in Hollywood, he took on roles that weren't always, shall we say...progressive? (His first role, for example was "Oriental #2") and while millions of other Americans may love Morita for being Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, that whole wise, old Japanese guru schtick was a little eye-rolly; think Driving Ralph Macchio or something.
That said, Morita was a breakthrough actor for his generation. While not the dashing lead actor that someone like James Shigeta was, Morita held down a plethora of supporting roles, including one of the first major Asian characters on a primetime television show as Arnold on Happy Days, a role which was, in many ways, ethnic-neutral.
Morita also appeared in many more community-oriented films than he typically gets credit for, including Farewell to Manzanar (1976), Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990), and most recently, Lane Nishikawa's upcoming Only the Brave, a dramatic narrative of the 442nd. (We'll just leave The Karate Dog off the list).
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