Mako (actor)
Encyclopedia
, born was an Oscar- and Tony-nominated Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 actor. Many of his acting roles credited him simply as Mako, omitting his surname.

Early life

Mako was born in Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, the son of noted children's book author and illustrator Taro Yashima
Taro Yashima
was the pseudonym of , a Japanese artist.He was born in Nejime, Kagoshima in 1908. After studying for three years at the Imperial Art Academy in Tokyo, he became a successful illustrator and cartoonist before going to jail because of his opposition to the militaristic government...

. His parents moved to the United States when he was a small child. He joined them there after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, in 1949, joining the military in the 1950s. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1956. When Mako first joined his parents in the USA, he studied architecture. During his military service, he discovered his theatrical talent, and trained at the Pasadena Community Playhouse
Pasadena Playhouse
The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engagements each year.-History:...

.

Career

Mako's first cinema role was in the 1959 film
1959 in film
The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....

 Never So Few
Never So Few
Never So Few 1959 CinemaScope war film directed by John Sturges and starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Charles Bronson, Dean Jones and Steve McQueen with uncredited roles by renowned Asian actors Mako, George Takei and James Hong. The script was loosely based on an actual OSS...

. In 1965, frustrated by the limited roles available to himself and other Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 actors, Mako and six others formed the East West Players
East West Players
East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As one of the nation's first Asian American theatre organizations, East West Players today continues to produce works and educational programs that give voice to the Asian Pacific American...

 theatre company, first performing out of a church basement. The company is one of the earliest Asian American theatre
Asian American theatre
Asian American theater is theater written, directed or acted by Asian Americans.- Background :Asian American theater emerged in the 1960s and the 1970s with the foundation of four theatre companies: East West Players in Los Angeles, Asian American Theatre Workshop in San Francisco, Theatrical...

 organizations, and not only provided a venue for Asian American actors to train and perform, but nurtured many Asian American playwrights. Mako remained artistic director of the company until 1989.

He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 for his role as Po-Han in the 1966
1966 in film
The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer...

 film The Sand Pebbles
The Sand Pebbles (film)
The Sand Pebbles is a 1966 American period war film directed by Robert Wise. It tells the story of an independent, rebellious U.S. Navy Machinist's Mate aboard the fictional gunboat USS San Pablo in 1920s China....

. Other roles include the Chinese contract laborer Mun Ki in the 1970 epic movie The Hawaiians
The Hawaiians (film)
The Hawaiians is a 1970 American historical film based on the novel Hawaii by James A. Michener. It was directed by Tom Gries with a screenplay by James R. Webb. The cast included Charlton Heston as Whipple Hoxworth, and Geraldine Chaplin...

starring Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...

 and Tina Chen
Tina Chen
Tina Chen is a Chinese American actress best known for her appearances in the films Alice's Restaurant, Three Days of the Condor and The Hawaiians....

; Yuen Chung in the 1975 film The Killer Elite
The Killer Elite
The Killer Elite is a 1975 American action thriller film starring James Caan and Robert Duvall and directed by Sam Peckinpah.The screenplay was written by Marc Norman and Stirling Silliphant adapted from the Robert Syd Hopkins novel, Monkey in the Middle. The novel was written under Hopkins'...

directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring James Caan, Robert Duvall and the famous martial artist Tak Kubota; the sorcerer Nakano in Highlander III: The Final Dimension
Highlander III: The Final Dimension
Highlander III: The Sorcerer, also known as Highlander III, Highlander III: The Magician, Highlander III: The Final Dimension, Highlander: The Final Dimension and Highlander 3: The Final Conflict, is the third installment in the Highlander film series. It was first released on November 30, 1994...

; the Wizard Akiro opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

 in the two Conan movies Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer
Conan the Destroyer
Conan the Destroyer is a 1984 American action fantasy film directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mako returning to resume their roles as Conan and Akiro the wizard, respectively. The cast also includes Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, Tracey Walter and Olivia d'Abo. It is...

; the Japanese spy in the comedy Under the Rainbow
Under the Rainbow
Under the Rainbow is a 1981 comedy film starring Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, Eve Arden, and Billy Barty.The plot is loosely based on the gathering of little people in a Hollywood hotel, to audition for roles as Munchkins in the movie The Wizard of Oz...

; Yoshida-san in Rising Sun; Mr. Lee in Sidekicks; Kanemitsu in RoboCop 3
RoboCop 3
RoboCop 3 is a science fiction action film, released in 1993, set in the near future in a dystopian metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, and filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the buildings seen in the film were slated for demolition to make way for facilities for the 1996 Olympics. Nancy Allen as...

in 1993; the introductory voice for the ending theme of Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Cartoon Network Studios . The show is about a boy named Dexter who has an enormous secret laboratory filled with an endless collection of his inventions...

; Kungo Tsarong in Seven Years in Tibet
Seven Years in Tibet (1997 film)
Seven Years in Tibet is a 1997 film based on the book of the same name written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer on his experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the Second World War, the interim period, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army's invasion of Tibet in 1950. The film...

; and Admiral Yamamoto
Isoroku Yamamoto
was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University ....

 in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor (film)
Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...

. He also had a role in Bulletproof Monk
Bulletproof Monk
Bulletproof Monk is a 2003 action film starring Chow Yun-fat, Seann William Scott and Jaime King. The film was directed by Paul Hunter. It is loosely based on the comic book by Michael Avon Oeming....

. In 2005, Mako had a cameo role in Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs of a Geisha (film)
Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by...

. Mako's last leading role was in the 2005 film Cages
Cages
Cages is a 2005 film, directed by American film director Graham Streeter which tells the story of a single mother named Ali Tan who attempts to escape repeated bad releationships which puts her before the man she resents the most—her father, Tan...

, written and directed by Graham Streeter
Graham Streeter
Graham Streeter is an American film director and screenwriter.Streeter was raised in northern California until high school. He lived in Osaka, Japan for 10 years while working in television and production, then returned to the United States and attended California State University, Sacramento...

. He also appeared to some Japanese TV dramas and films as such as Masahiro Shinoda
Masahiro Shinoda
is a Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s.-Career:...

's Owls' Castle
Owls' Castle
Owl's Castle is a 1999 Japanese ninja-themed film written by Masahiro Shinoda and Katsuo Naruse and directed by Masahiro Shinoda. It is a remake of the 1963 film Castle of Owls, based on Ryotaro Shiba's 1959 novel under the same name.The film starred Kiichi Nakai, Takaya Kamikawa, Mayu Tsuruta and...

and Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike
is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...

's The Bird People in China
The Bird People in China
The Bird People in China is a 1998 Japanese movie directed by Takashi Miike. The film is considerably more mellow in tone than some of the director's more famous works, but is not the only such film.-Overview:...

.

He appeared on the TV show McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy is an American television sitcom series which ran for 138 half-hour episodes from October 11,1962, to August 31, 1966, on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated in a one-hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962...

several times, playing Imperial Japanese officers, soldiers and sailors. He also later appeared on the TV show M*A*S*H, playing multiple roles such as a Chinese doctor, North Korean soldier, and South Korean major. He appeared as a Japanese chef in the 1978 Columbo
Columbo
Columbo is an American crime fiction television film series, which starred Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. It was created by William Link and Richard Levinson. The show popularized the inverted detective story format...

episode Murder Under Glass. He was the blind philosopher Li Sung in two episodes of the TV show The Incredible Hulk.He also appeared on an episode of Magnum P.I called "the arrow that is not aimed" in 1983. Mako also appeared in an episode of the TV show F Troop
F Troop
F Troop is a satirical American television sitcom that originally aired for two seasons on ABC-TV. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 and concluded its run on April 6, 1967 with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was filmed in black-and-white, but the show...

. He also fought Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...

 in an episode of The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet is an American radio and television masked vigilante created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell, in 1936. Since his radio debut in the 1930s, the Green Hornet has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media...

. He played the character Lin Duk Coo in an episode of The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...

. He guest starred in an episode of season one of Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...

as well as in an episode of Tour of Duty
Tour of duty
In the Navy, a tour of duty is a period of time spent performing operational duties at sea, including combat, performing patrol or fleet duties, or assigned to service in a foreign country....

as a Vietnamese scout. He played Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...

's uncle/sifu in Chan's first American movie The Big Brawl
The Big Brawl
The Big Brawl, also known as Battle Creek Brawl, is a 1980 martial arts film which marked Jackie Chan's first attempt to break into the American movie market...

. Mako voiced Commander Shima in the video game Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is the fifth installment of the Medal of Honor series, released by Electronic Arts in November 2003. Like its predecessors, Rising Sun is a first-person shooter set in World War II. Unlike predecessors,Rising Sun is set during the Pacific War. It features single-player...

. He also played the role of the goblin Grubjub in the video game Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader. He also was a guest star in an episode of Monk
Monk (TV series)
Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...

entitled "Mr. Monk vs. The Cobra". He also guest starred in "Walker Texas Ranger" in 2000 in the episode "Black Dragons". His last "made-for-TV" movie appears to be Rise: Blood Hunter in 2007.

Mako's Broadway career included creating the role of "The Reciter" in the original production of Pacific Overtures
Pacific Overtures
Pacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change...

in 1976 (for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical) and starring in the limited run of the play Shimada. in 1992.

He was the voice actor of the evil demon Aku in the animated series Samurai Jack
Samurai Jack
Samurai Jack is an American animated television series created by animator Genndy Tartakovsky that aired on both Cartoon Network and Toonami from 2001 to 2004. It is noted for its highly detailed, outline-free, masking-based animation, as well as for its cinematic style and pacing...

, and as both the parody of Aku, Achoo, and the annoying alarm clock known as Happy Cat, in Duck Dodgers
Duck Dodgers (TV series)
Duck Dodgers is an American animated television series, based on the classic cartoon short Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century, produced by Warner Bros. Animation from 2003 to 2005. The series aired on Cartoon Network and starred Daffy Duck as the titular character...

, as well as Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz...

. He had a guest appearance in the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 movie Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, also known as The Rugrats Movie 2: Rugrats in Paris and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie - Rugrats II, is 2000 American animated film, and the sequel to the 1998 film The Rugrats Movie that follows the continuing adventures of the Rugrats. In the film, Chuckie Finster takes...

as the boss of Coco. He guest-starred in the episode "A Good Day" of The West Wing as an economics professor and former rival of President Bartlet
Josiah Bartlet
Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character played by Martin Sheen on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is President of the United States for the entire series until the last episode, when his successor is inaugurated...

.

Mako has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

 at 7095 Hollywood Blvd. He was among the actors, producers and directors interviewed in the 2006 documentary The Slanted Screen
The Slanted Screen
The Slanted Screen is a 2006 documentary film written, produced, and directed by Jeff Adachi about the stereotypical depictions and absence of Asian males in American cinema and other media from the silent era to the present day.-Interviewees:* Eric Byler* Gene Cajayon* Terence Chang* Frank Chin*...

, directed by Jeff Adachi
Jeff Adachi
Jeff Adachi is the elected Public Defender of San Francisco, pension reform advocate, and a former candidate for Mayor of San Francisco.-Early life and education:...

, about the representation of Asian and Asian American men in Hollywood.

Personal life

Mako was married to actress Shizuko Hoshi
Shizuko Hoshi
Shizuko Hoshi is an American actress and theatre director living in Southern California. She is a graduate of Tokyo Women's College and University of Southern California...

 with whom he had two daughters (both are actresses) and three grandchildren.

Death

Mako died in Somis, California
Somis, California
Somis is an unincorporated area of Ventura County, California, just north of the Camarillo city limits. Its generally recognized boundaries are the areas around the intersection of Somis Road and Los Angeles Avenue , the latter being the dividing line between uptown and downtown. Its official...

 on July 21, 2006, aged 72, from esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...

. One day before his death, Mako had been confirmed to star in the film TMNT, providing the voice of Splinter. Kevin Munroe
Kevin Munroe
Kevin Andrew Munroe is a Canadian-born filmmaker, now an American citizen. His best known work is that of writer and director of TMNT . He also had a cameo appearance as a diner patron in the same film. His most recent film was Dead of Night....

, director of the film, confirmed that Mako had completed his recording before his death. The finished film was dedicated to Mako.

During an Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz...

episode, titled "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", which comprises several small stories about the main characters, there is a segment titled, "The Tale of Iroh". It features a dedication to Mako, as he was the voice actor for the character Iroh for the first and second seasons. In the upcoming show The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra
The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra
The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra is an upcoming American animated television series that is expected to air on Nickelodeon in mid-2012. The series is a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, which aired on the same network from 2005 to 2008, and may run for 26 episodes...

there is a character named after him. He was also featured in the Memoriam Montage in the 79th Academy Awards
79th Academy Awards
The 79th Academy Awards ceremony , honored the best films of 2006 and took place on February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC. Ellen DeGeneres hosted the ceremony for the first time. The producer was Laura Ziskin. The announcers were Don LaFontaine and Gina Tuttle.The nominees were...

.

External links

  • A 1998 interview about Pacific Overtures
    Pacific Overtures
    Pacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change...

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