Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 - November 24, 2005) was an American film and television actor who was well known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Kesuke Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985.

Morita was the series lead actor in the television program Mr. T and Tina, regarded as the first American sitcom centered on a person of Asian descent, and Ohara, a police-themed drama. Both made history for being some of the few to this day TV shows with an Asian American series lead. Both television shows were aired on ABC, but they were both short-lived. Morita also played in the CBS series M*A*S*H.

Early life

Morita was born in Isleton, California. His parents, Tamaru and Momoye Morita, had immigrated to California from Kumamoto Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu around 1912. He had a brother named Harry who was twelve years older.

Morita developed spinal tuberculosis (Pott disease) at the age of two and spent the bulk of the next nine years in Northern Californian 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. It was during his time at a sanitarium near Sacramento that he was given his stage name, "Pat". Released from the hospital at age 11 after undergoing extensive spinal surgery and learning how to walk, Morita was transported from the hospital directly to the Gila River camp in Arizona to join his interned family.

For a time after the war, the family operated Ariake Chop Suey, a restaurant in Sacramento, California. Morita would entertain customers with jokes and serve as master of ceremonies for group dinners.

Television and movie career

Morita's first movie role was as a stereotypical henchman in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). Followed by The Shakiest Gun In The West starring Don Knotts in yet another stereotypical role in 1968. 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. He also was cast as Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka in the 1976 war film Midway.

He had a recurring role on the show Happy Days as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi, owner of the diner Arnold's for the show's third season (1975-1976) and again in the tenth season (1982-1983). After the season's end, he left the show 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. Morita revived the character of Arnold on Blansky's Beauties in 1977 and eventually returned to Happy Days for the 1982-1983 season. Morita had another notable recurring television role on Sanford and Son as Ah Chew, a good-natured friend of Lamont Sanford, from 1974 to 1976.

Morita gained robust fame playing wise karate teacher Keisuke Miyagi, who taught young "Daniel-san" (Ralph Macchio) the art of karate in The Karate Kid. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a corresponding Golden Globe, reprising his role in three sequels: The Karate Kid, Part II (1986), The Karate Kid, Part III (1989) and The Next Karate Kid (1994, with Hilary Swank). Though never a student of karate, he learned all that was required for the films. Although he had been using the name Pat for years, producer Jerry Weintraub suggested that he be billed with his given name to sound "more ethnic." Morita put this advice into practice and was recognized as Noriyuki "Pat" Morita at the 57th Academy Awards ceremony.

Morita went on to play Tommy Tanaka in the Kirk Douglas-starring television movie Amos, receiving his first Emmy nomination and second Golden Globe nomination for the role. He then starred in the ABC detective show Ohara which aired in 1987; it ended a year later due to poor ratings. He then wrote and starred in the World War II romance film Captive Hearts (1987). Later 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 who 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.

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.

One of Morita's last television roles was as Master Udon on the SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "Karate Island". The episode was dedicated to him, airing about 6 months after his death. 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. About this time he also starred in a Michael Sajbel movie called Remove All Obstacles as a cold storage guru. This was a 9-minute industrial short advertising doors used for cold storage warehouses. Pat also took a small role in the independent film, Act Your Age, filmed in central Illinois and released in April 2011. His last movie was Royal Kill, which also stars Eric Roberts, Gail Kim, and Lalaine, and is directed by Babar Ahmed.

Death

Morita died on November 24, 2005, at his home in Las Vegas of kidney failure at the age of 73. He was survived by his wife of 11 years, Evelyn, his children from previous marriages, Erin, Aly and Tia, two grandchildren, siblings Gloria Imagire, Clarence Saika, Teddy Saika, Peggy Saika and his then-92-year-old mother, Dorothy Sueko Saika (1913-2009), of Milpitas, California.

He was cremated at Palm Green Valley Mortuary and Cemetery in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Karate Island" (original air date May 12, 2006), for which he voiced Udon, was dedicated to his memory.

Filmography

[ Source: Wikipedia ]