
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 actor of Asian descent during his time, making him a trailblazer in Asian American representation in media. The Goldsea Asian-American Daily magazine listed him as one of the "Most Inspiring Asian-Americans Of All Time".
Before his Hollywood career he found success as a pop singer and performer abroad, especially in Japan and Australia.
The roles that explain the career.
27 credits across 1 departments.
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Beam Me Up, Sulu | Self | Film |
| 2009 | The People I've Slept With | Charles Yang | Film |
| 2007 | Hollywood Chinese | Self | Film |
| 2006 | The Slanted Screen | Himself | Film |
| 1998 | Mulan | General Li (voice) | Film |
| 1997 | Drive | Mr. Lau | Film |
| 1996 | Space Marines | Ambassador Nakamura | Film |
| 1995 | Midnight Man | Mao Mak | Film |
| 1994 | Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die | Det. Whoo | Film |
| 1994 | Cage II: The Arena of Death | Tin Lum Yin | Film |
| 1990 | China Cry | Dr. Sung | Film |
| 1989 | Cage | Tin Lum Yin | Film |
| 1988 | Die Hard | Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi | Film |
| 1982 | Tomorrow's Child | Donald Shibura | Film |
| 1980 | Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb | Field Marshal Abehata | Film |
| 1976 | Midway | Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo | Film |
| 1974 | The Questor Tapes | Dr. Chen | Film |
| 1974 | The Yakuza | Goro | Film |
| 1973 | Lost Horizon | Brother To-Lenn | Film |
| 1967 | Death Walks in Laredo | Lester Koto | Film |
| 1966 | Paradise, Hawaiian Style | Danny Kohana | Film |
| 1964 | Carol for Another Christmas | Japanese Doctor | Film |
| 1961 | Bridge to the Sun | Hidenari Terasaki | Film |
| 1961 | Flower Drum Song | Wang Ta | Film |
| 1961 | Cry for Happy | Suzuki | Film |
| 1960 | Walk Like a Dragon | Cheng Lu | Film |
| 1959 | The Crimson Kimono | Detective Joe Kojaku | Film |
This page is community-maintained. Know something we don't?
← All person · Wikidata Q1400297