LaDyBuG wrote: Does anybody else think MIYAGI was cute? LOL LOL!! I guess for an oriental man his age, he's cute!! LOL!! Seriously, compare him with other oriental men!! Anyways...................may he rest in peace!
true that, you guys are distrubing the Miyagi's memory!! dirty foro dudettes!!!
LOL!! I guess for an oriental man his age, he's cute!! LOL!! Seriously, compare him with other oriental men!! Anyways...................may he rest in peace!
He had roles in Happy Days, Green Acres, and dozens of films, but to Karate Kid fans he’ll always be known as Mr. Miyagi.
Actor Pat Morita, whose portrayal of the sage and sprightly mentor in the movie series led to an Academy Award nomination, has died of natural causes at age 73.
The actor passed at his Las Vegas home, according to his wife of 12 years, Evelyn. She said in a statement that he "dedicated his entire life to acting and comedy."
And though some recall him as malt shop owner Arnold on Happy Days – one of his larger roles following a stint of bit parts – it was as Kesuke Miyagi in the 1984 film that moviegoers will likely remember him best.
The dry-witted karate instructor taught his apprentice 'Daniel-san' (Ralph Macchio) martial arts through a series of seemingly mundane chores, like fence painting and waxing a car – which spawned the famous and oft-parodied line: “Wax on, wax off.”
Though he lost the supporting actor Oscar to The Killing Fields’s Haing S. Ngor, the role made an indelible impact and spawned three sequels.
The last of that series, The Next Karate Kid, featured a young Hilary Swank – the actress who has since gone on to win two Academy Awards for her work.
The actor was billed as Noriyuki (Pat) Morita in the first Karate Kid film – his given name - because producer Jerry Weintraub wanted him to sound more ethnic.
Outside of that series, he had roles in Honeymoon in Vegas, Spy Hard, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and The Center of the World. He also voiced a character in the Disney movie Mulan.
Morita didn’t get into show business full-time until age 30. Born in California to migrant fruit pickers, he spent his early years in hospital with spinal tuberculosis. He later recovered, but only to be sent to a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II.
"One day I was an invalid," he recalled in a 1989 interview. "The next day I was public enemy No. 1 being escorted to an internment camp by an FBI agent wearing a piece."
When he did manage to get into show business, he found work as a stand-up comedian.
"Only in America could you get away with the kind of comedy I did," he said. "If I tried it in Japan before the war, it would have been considered blasphemy, and I would have ended up in leg irons. "
Survived by his wife and three daughters from a former marriage, Morita was to be buried at Palm Green Valley Mortuary and Cemetery.
"Most of us fall short much more by omission than by commission."
