Mako

Biography for Mako

Born in Japan, Mako was living there with his grandparents while his parents studied art in the United States, when Japan and the U.S. went to war in 1941. His parents remained in the U.S., working for the Office of War Information, and, at the cessation of the conflict, were granted U.S. residency by Congress. Mako joined his parents in New York and studied architecture. He entered the U.S. Army in the early 1950s and acted in shows for military personnel, discovering a talent and love for the theatre. He abandoned his plans to become an architect and instead enrolled at the famed Pasadena Community Playhouse in California. Following his studies there, he appeared in many stage productions and on television. In 1966, he won an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his first film role, as the coolie Po-Han in The Sand Pebbles (1966). Only occasionally since have his roles reached the level of his talents, but he has worked steadily in feature films ever since. He appeared on Broadway in the leading role in Stephen Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures" and he co-founded and served as artistic director for the highly-acclaimed East-West Players theatre company in Los Angeles. After a long battle and illness from cancer, he passed away on the twenty first of July in 2006, at the age of 72. He was survived by his wife, Shizuko Hoshi, who co-starred in episodes of "M*A*S*H" (1972), as well, and his children and grand-children.

Originally from Japan, Mako arrived in the United States shortly after the Second World War, to study architecture. Made American citizen in 1956, it was under the uniform of the army that he discovered a passion for theater and comedy: thus, when he returns to civil life, he abandoned his career as an architect and joins the ranks of the Pasadena Community Playhouse. After starting on television in various series, he illustrated in the cinema in the gunboat of the Yang-Tse by Robert Wise (1966), which earned him an appointment to the Oscar and the Golden Globe for the best supporting role. He will unfortunately be confined to the second roles thereafter, and will be illustrated among others in Conan Le Barbare (1982) and Conan Le Destructor (1983), Tucker (1988), window on Pacific (1991), Sidekicks (1992), sun Levant (1992), Crying Freeman (1995), seven years old in Tibet (1997) and more recently in Pearl Harbor (2001), the guardian of the Sacred Manuscript (2003) and Memoirs of a Geisha (2006). Died on July 21, 2006 in Ventura County, California, USA (esophagus cancer) he was 72 years old.

Mako Iwamatsu was a Japanese-American actor and theater artist born December 10, 1933 in Kobe, Japan. He emigrated to the United States with his family in 1939, just before the Second World War. Mako began his artistic career in the 1950s by playing in Broadway theater productions, and won a Tony Award for his role in the Pacific Overture play in 1976.

He became famous for his roles in cinema and on television, especially in the films the shock of the Titans, Conan Le Barbare and the adventurers of the Lost Ark. Mako has also played in many television series, including Mash, The West Wing and Hawaii Five-O.

In addition to his acting work, Mako was also an active activist for the rights of people of Asian origin in the United States. He founded the East West Players, a theater company in Los Angeles who devoted himself to the representation of Asian-American artists. Mako died on July 21, 2006 in Los Angeles, California, from cancer.

Photos

Filmography

Trivia

• Became a naturalized citizen in 1956.
• Frequently cast by Chuck Norris.
• Was nominated for Broadway's 1976 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for "Pacific Overtures."
• Artistic Director Emeritus of the nation's premier Asian American theatre organization, East West Players, located in the "Little Tokyo" area of Los Angeles, California, USA.
• Passed away one day after being officially announced as the voice of "Master Splinter" in TMNT (2007).
• In the months before his death, he was preparing to appear with his wife in an East West production of the comedy "Motty Chon." Instead of recasting the part, the company, out of respect, canceled the production.
• Pioneer of Asian American theater in Los Angeles.
• Wife Shizuko Hoshi is a dancer, choreographer and actress.
• He was the East West Players' first artistic director in 1965. He also taught acting classes there to help pay the company's bills. The company's first home was a basement in a Silver Lake church secured by co-founder Beulah Quo. Later, it moved to a storefront on Santa Monica Blvd. Since 1998, it has been housed in the historic Union Center for the Arts and performs in a 240 seat theater.
• Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch).
• Received a special tribute as part of the Annual Memorial tribute at The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV).
• One of six Asian actors nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category. The others are Haing S. Ngor who won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Killing Fields (1984), Miyoshi Umeki who won for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Sayonara (1957), Sessue Hayakawa nominated for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Ken Watanabe nominated for The Last Samurai (2003), and Rinko Kikuchi nominated for Babel (2006).
• One of eight actors of Asian descent nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category. The others are Miyoshi Umeki who won Best Supporting Actress nominated for Sayonara (1957), Sessue Hayakawa nominated for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Ben Kingsley who won Best Actor for Gandhi (1982), Haing S. Ngor who won Best Supporting Actor for The Killing Fields (1984), Pat Morita nominated for The Karate Kid (1984), Ken Watanabe nominated for The Last Samurai (2003) and Rinko Kikuchi nominated for Babel (2006).

Quotes

On the barriers that Asian-American actors have to face in Hollywood: "I go into a young film director's office these days and he says, 'Hey man, I know who you are. I grew up watching "McHale's Navy" (1962)'. And I think, 'Oh boy, here we go again'".

"Of course we've been fighting against stereotypes from Day One at East West. That's the reason we formed: to combat that, and to show we are capable of more than just fulfilling the stereotypes -- waiter, laundryman, gardener, martial artist, villain."

Family

• Spouse : Shizuko Hoshi (? - 21 July 2006) (his death) 2 children
• Children: daughters Sala and Mimosa.

Author of the card

• Creation date: 13/01/2008 by franckenstein