James Shigeta

Actor Jun 17 (died age 85) Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA 1944–2025 (81 year career)

6.4 avg rating

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 …

Known For

Film

Die Hard

Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi

Film

Mulan

General Li (voice)

Film

Brother

Sugimoto

Film

Midway

Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo

Film

The Yakuza

Goro

Film

Drive

Mr. Lau

Film

The Crimson Kimono

Detective Joe Kojaku

Film

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Old Wanderer (voice)

Filmography

Acting (86)

Movies (43)

Beam Me Up, Sulu

2025

as Self

6.0

Yorktown: A Time to Heal

2022

as Admiral Heilachiro Nogura

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

2019

as (archive footage)

5.7

The People I've Slept With

2009

as Charles Yang

4.5

Hollywood Chinese

2007

as Self

The Slanted Screen

as Himself

Brother

as Sugimoto

Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century

1999

as Narrator

Mulan

1998

as General Li (voice)

Drive

as Mr. Lau

Space Marines

as Ambassador Nakamura

3.2

Midnight Man

1995

as Mao Mak

5.2

Cage II: The Arena of Death

1994

as Tin Lum Yin

2.9

Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die

1994

as Det. Whoo

6.8

Home from the Eastern Sea

1990

as Narrator

China Cry

as Dr. Sung

Cage

as Tin Lum Yin

Die Hard

as Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi

Slaying the Dragon

Tomorrow's Child

as Donald Shibura

The Renegades

as Jimmy Lee

Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb

1980

as Field Marshal Abehata

5.7

Samurai

1979

as Takeo Chisato

Midway

1976

as Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo

6.6

The Killer Who Wouldn't Die

1976

as David Lao

Matt Helm

1975

as Tom McCauley

The Yakuza

as Goro

The Questor Tapes

as Dr. Chen

Lost Horizon

as Brother To-Lenn

The Young Lawyers

as Lee Ahn

Operation Heartbeat

1969

as Chief Resident

Nobody's Perfect

1968

as Diver Toshi O'Hara

5.5

Escape to Mindanao

1968

as Lt. Takahashi

Manila, Open City

1968

as Captain Murakami

8.2

Death Walks in Laredo

1967

as Lester Koto

6.5

The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk

1967

as George Ti Ming

6.0

Paradise, Hawaiian Style

1966

as Danny Kohana

5.2

Carol for Another Christmas

as Japanese Doctor

Bridge to the Sun

as Hidenari Terasaki

Cry for Happy

as Harue

Flower Drum Song

as Wang Ta

Walk Like a Dragon

as Cheng Lu

The Crimson Kimono

as Detective Joe Kojaku

6.6

Television (43)

Avatar: The Last Airbender

2005

as Old Wanderer (voice)

8.8

Threat Matrix

2003

as Kang Sok-Joo

6.0

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

1996

as Inspector Mantjur (voice)

Cybill

as Mr. Matsuzaki

Babylon 5

as Taro Isogi

seaQuest DSV

as Vietnamese President Chi

Renegade

as Mr. Ota

Beverly Hills, 90210

as Ben Sosna

Jake and the Fatman

as Mr. Koso Nakasone

Murder, She Wrote

as John Sukahara

Airwolf

as Colonel Tranh Van Zung

The Hitchhiker

as Nishi

Masquerade

as Makko

T. J. Hooker

as Chow Duc Khan

Matt Houston

as Lin Ha

Simon & Simon

Magnum, P.I.

as Richard Enoka

The Love Boat

as Bud's Father

The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries

Once an Eagle

as Lin Tso-Han

Ellery Queen

as Stephen Yang

S.W.A.T.

Little House on the Prairie

as Sam Wing

Police Woman

The Rockford Files

as Clement Chin

Emergency!

The Streets of San Francisco

Kung Fu

as Master Kwan Li

Medical Center

as Dr. Osaka

Hawaii Five-O

as Joseph Matsukino

Ironside

Mission: Impossible

as Shiki

The Bing Crosby Show

The Outer Limits

as Maj. Jong

Burke's Law

as Sidney Ying

The Lieutenant

Dr. Kildare

as Dr. Roy Shigera

Ben Casey

Kraft Mystery Theatre

Naked City

as James Kam

Perry Mason

as Ward Toyama

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

as Self

Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Nominee