Pat Morita

At 73 years old, Pat Morita has this physical status:

Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, an American actor and comedian known for his appearances on Happy Days (1975-1993), Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days (1975-1993), Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid film series, and The Toymaster in Babes, Toyland.

Mr. Miyagi's appearance in The Karate Kid was nominated for the 1985 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In the Disney animated film Mulan (1998), Morita also portrayed Emperor Joseph, depicting Ah Chew in Sanford and Son (1974–1976). Morita was the series lead actor on Mr. T and Tina (1976) and in Ohara (1987–1988), a police-themed drama.

The two series made history by becoming one of the few television shows with an Asian American series lead.

Early life

Morita was born in Isleton, California, to Japanese immigrant parents on June 28, 1932. Born in 1897, Morita's father, Tamaru, immigrated to California from Kumamoto Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu in 1915. Momoe, Tamaru's wife who was born in 1903, immigrated to California in 1913. Noriyuki, as Pat, had a brother named Hideo (Harry) who was twelve years older.

At the age of two, Morita developed spinal tuberculosis (Pott disease) and spent the majority of the next nine years at the Weimar Institute in Weimar, California, and later at the Shriners Hospital in San Francisco. He was wrapped in a full body cast for long stretches of time, and he was told that he would never walk. During his time in a hospital near Sacramento, Morita, a visiting priest who would often joke that if Morita ever converted to Catholicism, the priest would rename him to "Patrick Aloysius Morita." After extensive spinal surgery and learning how to walk, Morita was taken directly from the hospital to the Gila River camp in Arizona to join his interned family. He was transferred to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center after about a year and a half.

Morita returned to the Bay Area after World War II ended, and he graduated from Armijo High School in Fairfield, California, in 1949. For a time after the war, the family ran Ariake Chop Suey, a restaurant in Sacramento, California, jokingly referred to as "a Japanese family owning a Chinese restaurant in a black neighborhood with a clientele of blacks, Filipinos, and anyone else who did not fit in one of the other neighborhoods." For group dinners, Morita will entertain customers with comedies and serve as the master of ceremonies. Morita and his mother maintained the restaurant for another three to four years after Morita's father was killed in a hit-and-run while walking home from an all-night movie in 1956. Morita started working as a data processor in the early 1960s with the Department of Motor Vehicles and other state departments, eventually transferring to a graveyard shift at Aerojet General, needing a regular job to care for his wife and a newly born child. He was a department head at another aerospace company, Lockheed, in charge of liaison between the engineers and the programmers who were mapping out lunar eclipses for Polaris and Titan missile projects in a timely manner.

However, Morita suffered from occupational burnout and decided to quit his career and pursue show business. He began serving as a stand-up comedian at small clubs in Sacramento and San Francisco, earning the stage name "Pat Morita" in part due to the presence of comedians such as Pat Henry and Pat Cooper, and in part due to the priest's memories as a child. For many years in comedy, Morita's matadornee, until a friend, — ventriloquist Hank Garcia — begged him to try his luck in Los Angeles. Since he migrated to Los Angeles and booked him in the San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica's Horn nightclub, Sally Marr, Lenny Bruce's mother, acted as his agent and boss. Vic Damone and Connie Stevens, as well as his mentor, comedian Redd Foxx, appeared onstage. The Hip Nip was Morita's nickname.

Source

Television and movie career

In Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) and a related role in The Shakiest Gun In The West (1968), starring Don Knotts, Morita's first film appearances were as a henchman and a similar role in The Shakiest Gun In The West (1968). On Sanford and Son (1974–1976) as Ah Chew, a good-natured friend of Lamont Sanford, and South Korean Army Captain Sam Pak on the sitcom M*A*S*H (1973, 1974). In the war film Midway (1976), Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka was also cast.

Starting in season three (1975–76), Morita had a regular appearance on Happy Days as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi (the current Japanese owner of Arnold's Drive-In) Takahashi (the new Japanese owner of Arnold's Drive-In) Takahashi (the new Japanese owner of Arnold's Drive-In). Takahashi had bought the Milwaukee restaurant from the original Arnold but decided against adopting the former's first name because it was too costly for him to buy the additional neon sign letters necessary to rename it "Takahashi's." As the new owner, he moonlighted as a martial arts instructor, teaching self-defense classes at the drive-in after hours. Before returning as a recurring character for season ten and as a main character in the final eleventh season, Morita also portrayed "Arnold" as a guest star on seasons four and six. Arnold appeared on Blansky's Beauties in 1977.

In The Karate Kid (1984), Morita gained particular fame thanks to its skilled karate teacher, Mr. Miyagi, who taught young "Daniel-san" (Ralph Macchio). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a corresponding Golden Globe Award, resuming his role in three sequels, The Karate Kid Part II (1989) and The Next Karate Kid (1994), the last of which featured Hilary Swank rather than Macchio. Despite the fact that he was never a student of karate, he learned all that was needed for the films. Although Pat had been using the word Pat for years, producer Jerry Weintraub suggested that he be billed with his given name to appear "more ethnic." At the 57th Academy Awards ceremony, Morita put this information into practice and was named Noriyuki "Pat" Morita. Weintraub initially didn't want to cast Mr. Miyagi, expecting a dramatic actor for the role and naming Morita a comedic actor. After Weintraub himself suggested him the role, Morita eventually tried five times.

Morita was the star of two television series. In 1976, he appeared on television as inventor Taro Takahashi in his own film Mr. T and Tina, the first Asian-American sitcom on network television. ABC launched the show on Saturday nights and was quickly cancelled after a month in 1976's fall. He appeared on Ohara (1987-1988), an ABC detective show; it was ended after two seasons due to poor ratings.

From his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination and second Golden Globe Award nomination for the role, Morita continued to act Tommy Tanaka in the Kirk Douglas-starring television film Amos.

Captive Hearts (1987), a World War II romance film, was written and starred. Tales Around the World, a youth-based educational video game series, appeared on Britannica's Tales Around the World (1990-1991-1991). In the 1994 Season 5 episode "Love Hurts," he appeared on The Fresh Prince of Belair. He appeared on the Nickelodeon television series The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (1996–1998) and appeared on the comedy The Hughleys (1999). He appeared on a 1996 episode of Married... with Children as a guest. He went on to appear in the short film Talk to Taka as a sushi chef who doesles out tips to anyone who will hear him. In Disney's 36th animated film Mulan (1998), a direct-to-video sequel and Kingdom Hearts II, he played the Emperor of China.

In a string of commercials for Colgate toothpaste, he spoofed his name as "Mr. Miyagi"; he referred to Wisdom Tooth as "the Wise Choice" in Colgate toothpaste; he referred to Colgate as "The Wise Choice."

In the 2001 Alien Ant Farm music video "Movies," he made a cameo appearance. His appearance in the video spoofed his character in The Karate Kid. He appeared on a Spy TV program in 2002. He appeared on Yes, Dear as an unidentified karate instructor, possibly Miyagi. In 2005, he would reprise his role (to a degree) in the stop-motion animated film Robot Chicken.

Source