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