
James Shigeta
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.
86 acting credits
Acting · 86

Perry Mason
1957

Murder, She Wrote
1984

Beverly Hills, 90210
1990

The Love Boat
1977

Golden Globe Awards
1944

Ironside
1967

Babylon 5
1994

Mission: Impossible
1966

Hawaii Five-O
1968

Little House on the Prairie
1974

Magnum, P.I.
1980

The Rockford Files
1974

Dr. Kildare
1961

Emergency!
1972

T. J. Hooker
1982

Naked City
1958

Simon & Simon
1981

Airwolf
1984

Renegade
1992

Ben Casey
1961

Avatar: The Last Airbender
2005

Burke's Law
1963

Jake and the Fatman
1987

Police Woman
1974

Medical Center
1969

The Outer Limits
1963

seaQuest DSV
1993

Cybill
1995

The Streets of San Francisco
1972

Matt Houston
1982

Mulan
1998

The Hitchhiker
1983

The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
1977

Die Hard
1988

Midway
1976

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
1996

Ellery Queen
1975

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956

Threat Matrix
2003

The Lieutenant
1963

S.W.A.T.
1975

Masquerade
1983

Once an Eagle
1976

Brother
2000

Kraft Mystery Theatre
1961

The Bing Crosby Show
1964

Drive
1997

The Yakuza
1974

Kung Fu
1972

Flower Drum Song
1961

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019

Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
1980

Lost Horizon
1973

Bridge to the Sun
1961

Samurai
1979

Cage
1989

The Slanted Screen
2006

Hollywood Chinese
2007

Paradise, Hawaiian Style
1966

China Cry
1990

Carol for Another Christmas
1964

Matt Helm
1975

Cage II: The Arena of Death
1994

The Crimson Kimono
1959

The Questor Tapes
1974

Space Marines
1996

The Young Lawyers
1969

Operation Heartbeat
1969

Cry for Happy
1961

The People I've Slept With
2009

Midnight Man
1995
The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk
1967

Manila, Open City
1968

The Killer Who Wouldn't Die
1976

Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
1994

Tomorrow's Child
1982

Nobody's Perfect
1968

The Renegades
1982

Yorktown: A Time to Heal
2022

Death Walks in Laredo
1967

Walk Like a Dragon
1960

Slaying the Dragon
1988

Escape to Mindanao
1968
Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century
1999

Beam Me Up, Sulu
2025
Home from the Eastern Sea
1990