Biography for
Miyoshi Umeki More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

8 May 1929, Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan

Date of Death

28 August 2007, Licking, Missouri, USA (cancer)

Height

5' 1" (1.55 m)

Mini Biography

Although she projected the typical Japanese female stereotype of humbleness, delicacy and subservience in most of her prime film and stage roles, beguiling, tiny-framed Miyoshi Umeki was nevertheless an assertive scene-stealer. This docile and deceptive-looking talent with the cropped hair and heart-shaped face radiated charm and innocence so effortlessly, she managed to make history at Academy Awards time as the first Asian performer to receive an acting Oscar for her superb work in the tragic post-WWII film drama Sayonara (1957).

Miyoshi Umeki was born on May 8, 1929, in Otaru on the large northern island of Hokkaido. The daughter of a prominent Japanese iron factory owner and the youngest of nine children, she developed an early passion for music and learned to play the mandolin, harmonica and piano. She also enjoyed singing American-styled tunes much to the chagrin of her parents. This propensity for Americanized pop songs later paid off.

Following WWII she traveled with a U.S. Army G.I. jazz band in Japan as Nancy Umeki and was the first to record American songs, for RCA Victor Japan, in her homeland. She became an extremely popular radio and nightclub artist which triggered a move to the United States in 1955. Again, the diminutive vocalist demonstrated a demure prowess for gaining attention with her one-season regular role (1955-1956) on the musical variety show "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" (1949). With that popularity, she was able to sign with Mercury Records and eventually released two albums.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. From this recognition she was immediately cast in the Marlon Brando/Miiko Taka starrer Sayonara (1957) based on James Michener's best-selling romantic tale. She had made a minor movie debut a few years earlier in a Japanese musical. Inspired casting opposite comedian Red Buttons in a tragic, counterpoint romance as a WWII airman and his naive Japanese war bride who fall victim to post-war prejudice led to supporting Academy Awards for both actors. Despite her win, she would not make another film for four years.

Following this Oscar-winning endeavor, Umeki conquered Broadway with the 1958 musical [i]Flower Drum Song[/i] in which she proved a highlight as a starry-eyed Chinese immigrant / mail-order bride with her captivating rendition of A Hundred Million Miracles, earning a Tony nomination in the process. She scored additional points after recreating her role for the film version of Flower Drum Song (1961).

Ms. Umeki made only five American films in all. Her other appearances were support roles in the naval comedy Cry for Happy (1961) in which she and her "Sayonara" co-star Miiko Taka were paired with Glenn Ford and 'Donald O'Connor'; the Jim Hutton / Paula Prentiss service comedy The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962); and the Laurence Harvey / France Nuyen racial drama _Girl Named Tamiko, A (1963)_. She also tread fairly lightly on TV with random 60s appearances on _"Donna Reed Show, The" (1962)_, "Dr. Kildare" (1961), "Rawhide" (1959) and "Mister Ed" (1961), among others.

Duing the 1950s and 1960s, Umeki was an occasional guest on variety shows for such TV titans as Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin, Andy Williams and Ed Sullivan. Arguably her biggest claim to fame was as Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper and quiet pillar of strength to a widower and his young son, in the heart-tugging TV comedy "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (1969). Following this renewed attention, Umeki went into a complete self-imposed retirement.

She lived a predictably sedate family life for better than three decades. Her 1958 marriage to TV producer/director Win Opie ended in divorce after 9 years. She subsequently married TV director Randall Hood in 1968 and the couple ran a business renting editing equipment to film studios and university film programs until his sudden death in Los Angeles in 1976. A longtime resident of North Hollywood, she eventually moved to Missouri with advancing age to be nearer to her son and his family. She died of cancer at age 78 on August 28, 2007, at the Licking Park Manor nursing home in Licking, Missouri.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Spouse

Randall Hood	(26 October 1968 - 16 August 1976) (his death) 1 child
Win Opie	(23 July 1958 - 1967) (divorced)

Trivia

The first Asian actor to win an Academy Award, for best supporting actress in Sayonara (1957).

Was already famous as Nancy Umeki in Japan with several hit songs and film appearances to her credit before coming to the U.S. in 1955.

Was nominated for the 1959 Tony Award as best actress in a musical for [i]Flower Drum Song[/i], a role she recreated in the film version, Flower Drum Song (1961).

Appeared on a 1958 cover of Time magazine along with actress Pat Suzuki while appearing on Broadway in [i]Flower Drum Song [/i].

Son, Michael Randall Hood.

After her retirement from the entertainment industry, she ran an editing machine business in Los Angeles for several years.

She recorded for Mercury Records, 1955-1959. Released five 45rpm singles and two LPs as a lead vocalist. One more LP was a recompiled budget release. There's also a various artists compilation LP which contains one track by her. Before that, she recorded for RCA Japan as Nancy Umeki.

One of eight actors of Asian descent nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category. The others are Sessue Hayakawa nominated for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Mako nominated for The Sand Pebbles (1966), 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).

Where Are They Now

(2003) retired and living in Hawaii

(November 2004) Retired in a small town in Missouri near her son and family.

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