Pat Morita

Pat Morita
Morita as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, 1984
Born	Noriyuki Morita June 28, 1932(1932-06-28) Isleton, California, U.S.
Died	November 24, 2005(2005-11-24) (aged 73) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.[1]
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–2005

Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was a Japanese-American actor who was well-known for playing the role of Arnold on Happy Days and known as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movie series, in which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.^[2]

Early life

Pat Morita was born in Isleton, California.^[3] He developed spinal tuberculosis at the age of two and spent the bulk of the next nine years in Northern California hospitals, including the Shriners Hospital in San Francisco. For long periods he was wrapped in a full-body cast and was told he would never walk.^[4]

After a surgeon fused four vertebrae in his spine, Pat finally learned to walk again at the age of 11. By then, his Japanese American family had been sent to an internment camp to be detained for the duration of World War II.^[5]

He was transported from the hospital directly to the Gila River camp in Arizona to join them. It was at this time that he met a Catholic priest from whom he would later take his stage name "Pat". For a time after the war, the family operated Ariake Chop Suey, a restaurant in Sacramento, California. Teenage "Nori" would entertain customers with jokes and serve as master of ceremonies for group dinners.^[6] Later, he worked as a data entry clerk for the State of California and at Aerojet-General Corporation near Sacramento. In the early 1960s, he started his career as a stand-up comedian known as The Hip Nip, performing in local nightclubs and bars.

Morita was married three times. His first marriage was soon after he finished high school (Armijo High School in Fairfield CA). They were married for 14 years and had one daughter, Erin Morita, born in 1954. Apparently his decision to quit his job and become a stand-up comedian destroyed his first marriage.

Morita later married his second wife Yuki in 1970. They had two daughters, Aly and Tia. The couple had to deal with several setbacks during their marriage. First, their $300,000 uninsured, Tarzana, California home was badly damaged in a mudslide. The family escaped with just the clothes they were wearing. Shortly afterward Tia, their youngest daughter, was diagnosed with kidney disease. Their marriage dissolved in 1982 after two years of separation.

Morita met his last wife, Evelyn Louise Guerrero, when she was 15 years old because Evelyn's mother had the same manager, Sally Marr. Morita and Evelyn met again years later and were married in Las Vegas on March 26, 1994; they remained together until his death. They did not have any children together.

Television and movie career

The handprints of Pat Morita in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

His first movie role was as a stereotypical henchman in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). He also was cast as Rear admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka, in the film Midway in 1976. Later, a recurring role as South Korean Army Captain Sam Pak on the sitcom M*A*S*H helped advance the comedian's acting career.^[7]

He had a recurring role on the show Happy Days as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi, owner of the diner Arnold's. After the first season (1975–1976), he left Happy Days to star as inventor Taro Takahashi in his own show, Mr. T and Tina, the first Asian American sitcom on network TV. The sitcom was placed on Saturday nights by ABC and was quickly canceled after a month in the fall of 1976. In 1977, Morita starred in the short-lived Blansky's Beauties as Arnold. Morita eventually returned to Happy Days, reprising his role in the 1982–1983 season. He appeared in an episode of The Odd Couple and had a recurring role on Sanford and Son in the mid-1970s.

Morita gained worldwide fame playing wise karate teacher Kesuke Miyagi who taught young "Daniel-san" (Ralph Macchio) in The Karate Kid.^[8] He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as well as a Golden Globe and reprised his role as the sensei Mr. Miyagi in three sequels: The Karate Kid, Part II (1986), The Karate Kid, Part III (1989) and The Next Karate Kid (with Hilary Swank). Although he had been using the name "Pat Morita" for years, producer Jerry Weintraub suggested that Pat be billed with his given name to sound more ethnic.^[9]

Morita went on to play Tommy Tanaka in the TV movie Amos (for which he received Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award nominations), starring Kirk Douglas. He then starred as the title character in the ABC detective show Ohara which aired in 1987 and ended a year later due to poor ratings. He then wrote and starred in the World War II romance film Captive Hearts (1987). Late in his career, Morita starred on the Nickelodeon television series The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo and had a recurring role on the sitcom The Hughleys. He also made a guest appearance on an episode of Married With Children. He went on to star in Talk To Taka as a sushi chef who doles out advice to anyone that will hear him. In 1998, Morita voiced the Emperor of China in Disney's 36th animated feature Mulan and reprised the role in Kingdom Hearts II and Mulan II, a direct-to-video sequel.^[10]

Morita had a cameo appearance in the 2001 Alien Ant Farm music video "Movies". Morita's appearance in the video spoofed his role in The Karate Kid. He would also reprise his role (to an extent) in the stop-motion animated series Robot Chicken. In the episode, he is assumed to be Mr. Miyagi, but he immediately denies that by saying, "First of all, I'm Pat F'in Morita, ya nutsack!"

One of Morita's last TV roles was as Master Udon on the SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "Karate Island". The episode was dedicated to him after he died about six months after its first run.^[11] One of his last film roles was in the 2005 independent feature film, Only the Brave, about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, where he plays the father of lead actor (and director) Lane Nishikawa. His last movie was Royal Kill, which also stars Eric Roberts, Gail Kim, and Lalaine and is directed by Babar Ahmed.

Death

Pat Morita died on November 24, 2005 at his home in Las Vegas of natural causes at the age of 73. He was survived by his wife of 15 years, Evelyn, as well as his children from previous marriages, Erin, Aly, and Tia.^[7] He was also survived by siblings Gloria Imagire, Clarence Saika, Teddy Saika, Peggy Saika, and his then-92-year-old mother Dorothy Sueko Saika (1913-2009) of Milpitas, California.http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20171085,00.html

Filmography

• Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
• The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968)
• Every Little Crook and Nanny (1972)
• Where Does It Hurt? (1972)
• Cancel My Reservation (1972)
• I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? (1975)
• Midway (1976)
• When Time Ran Out (1980)
• Full Moon High (1981)
• Slapstick (Of Another Kind) (1982)
• Savannah Smiles (1982)
• Jimmy the Kid (1982)
• The Karate Kid (1984)
• Night Patrol (1984)
• The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)
• Babes in Toy land (1986)
• Captive Hearts (1987)
• Collision Course (1989)
• The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)
• Lena's Holiday (1991)
• Goodbye Paradise (1991)
• Do or Die (1991)
• Strawberry Road (1991)
• Great Conquest: The Romance of 3 Kingdoms (1992) (narrator in English version)
• Genghis Khan (1992)
• Miracle Beach (1992)
• Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
• Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun (1993)
• Auntie Lee's Meat Pies (1993)
• American Ninja V (1993)
• Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993)
• The Next Karate Kid (1994)
• The Misery Brothers (1995)
• Captured Alive (1995)
• Time master (1995)
• Earth Minus Zero (1996)
• Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996)
• Spy Hard (1996)
• Reggie's Prayer (1996)
• Beyond Barbed Wire (1997) (documentary) (narrator)
• Bloodsport III (1997)
• Mulan (1998) (voice)
• I'll Remember April (1999)
• Desert Heat (1999) (film)
• Los Gringos (1999) (short subject) (voice)
• King Cobra (1999)
• Inferno (1999)
• Hammerlock (2000) (film)
• Brother (2000)
• Talk to Taka (2000) (short subject)
• Diamonds in the Rough: The Legacy of Japanese American Baseball (NBRP documentary short) (narrator)
• House of Luk (2001)
• The Boys of Sunset Ridge (2001)
• The Center of the World (2001)
• Shadow Fury (2001)
• Hwasango (2001) (dubbing voice in MTV version)
• The Stone man (2002)
• The Biggest Fan (2002)
• Cats and Mice (2003)
• High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story (2003)
• Rice Girl (2003)
• Miss Cast Away (2004)
• The Karate Dog (2004)
• Elvis Has Left the Building (2004)
• The Last Shot (2004)
• Mulan II (2004) (voice) (direct-to-DVD)
• The Number One Girl (2005)
• Down and Derby (2005)
• American Fusion (2005)
• Only the Brave (2005)
• Robot Chicken (2005)
• Spymate (2005)
• 18 Fingers of Death! (2006)
• Royal Kill (2009)

References

External links

• Pat Morita at the Internet Movie Database
• NY Times Obituary
• Pat Morita on People.com
• 1967 Stars & Stripes Article on Morita
• Archive of American Television oral history interview with Pat Morita
• Pat Morita at Find a Grave