

James Shigeta
ActorJames 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.
More details at TMDB
KNOWN FOR
FILMOGRAPHY
ACTOR43

Beam Me Up, Sulu
2025
Self

Yorktown: A Time to Heal
2022
Admiral Heilachiro Nogura

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019
(archive footage)

The People I've Slept With
2009
Charles Yang

Hollywood Chinese
2007
Self

The Slanted Screen
2006
Himself

Brother
2000
Sugimoto
- Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century
Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century
1999
Narrator

Mulan
1998
General Li (voice)

Drive
1997
Mr. Lau

Space Marines
1996
Ambassador Nakamura

Midnight Man
1995
Mao Mak

Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
1994
Det. Whoo

Cage II: The Arena of Death
1994
Tin Lum Yin
- Home from the Eastern Sea
Home from the Eastern Sea
1990
Narrator

China Cry
1990
Dr. Sung

Cage
1989
Tin Lum Yin

Die Hard
1988
Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi

Slaying the Dragon
1988

Tomorrow's Child
1982
Donald Shibura

The Renegades
1982
Jimmy Lee

Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
1980
Field Marshal Abehata

Samurai
1979
Takeo Chisato

Midway
1976
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo

The Killer Who Wouldn't Die
1976
David Lao

Matt Helm
1975
Tom McCauley

The Yakuza
1974
Goro

The Questor Tapes
1974
Dr. Chen

Lost Horizon
1973
Brother To-Lenn

Operation Heartbeat
1969
Chief Resident

The Young Lawyers
1969
Lee Ahn

Escape to Mindanao
1968
Lt. Takahashi

Nobody's Perfect
1968
Diver Toshi O'Hara

Manila, Open City
1968
Captain Murakami

Death Walks in Laredo
1967
Lester Koto
- The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk
The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk
1967
George Ti Ming

Paradise, Hawaiian Style
1966
Danny Kohana

Carol for Another Christmas
1964
Japanese Doctor

Flower Drum Song
1961
Wang Ta

Cry for Happy
1961
Suzuki

Bridge to the Sun
1961
Hidenari Terasaki

Walk Like a Dragon
1960
Cheng Lu

The Crimson Kimono
1959
Detective Joe Kojaku





