Pat Morita

Morita was born on June 28, 1932, in Isleton, California, to Japanese immigrant parents.{{cite news

|url= https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/PAT-MORITA-1932-2005-S-F-comic-became-Karate-2559491.php

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100807235029/http://articles.sfgate.com/2005-11-26/news/17398855_1_pat-morita-mr-miyagi-karate-kid

|url-status= live

|archive-date= August 7, 2010

|title= PAT MORITA: 1932–2005 / S.F. comic became 'Karate Kid' mentor|access-date=May 21, 2010 |work= San Francisco Chronicle |date= November 26, 2005| first=Marianne | last=Costantinou}}{{Cite web |date=2016-08-18 |title=Pat Morita: Early Life as a Armijo High School Graduate |url=https://visitfairfield.com/back-in-the-day-pat-morita-a-tvmovie-star-and-armijo-grad/ |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=Visit Fairfield}} Morita's father, Tamaru, born in 1897, immigrated to California from Kumamoto Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu in 1915.{{cite web | title=Japanese American Internee Data File: Tamaru Morita|url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=3099&mtch=313&tf=F&q=Morita&bc=&sort=30012%20desc&rpp=50&pg=5&rid=51212&rlst=51470,51191,51422,51232,51403,51258,51277,51212,51442,51476| publisher=National Archives and Records Administration| access-date=August 17, 2019}} Tamaru's wife, Momoe, born in 1903, immigrated to California in 1913.{{cite web | title=Japanese American Internee Data File: Momoe Morita|url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=3099&mtch=313&tf=F&q=Morita&bc=&sort=30012%20desc&rpp=50&pg=4&rid=51213&rlst=51366,51213,37087,87528,66073,51372,51177,51303,51308,51358| publisher=National Archives and Records Administration| access-date=August 17, 2019}} Noriyuki, as Pat was named, had a brother named Hideo (Harry) who was twelve years older.{{cite video|time=5:28|last1=Herman|first1=Karen|title=Pat Morita Interview|url=http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/pat-morita#|website=Archive of American Television|publisher=Academy of Television, Arts & Sciences Foundation|date=October 13, 2000|access-date=February 22, 2016}}{{cite web | title=Japanese American Internee Data File: Hideo Morita|url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=3099&mtch=313&tf=F&q=Morita&bc=&sort=30012%20desc&rpp=50&pg=2&rid=51214&rlst=51357,51170,51294,51214,51209,51477,51244,51215,51471,51474| publisher=National Archives and Records Administration| access-date=August 17, 2019}}

Morita developed spinal tuberculosis (Pott disease) at the age of two and spent the bulk of the next nine years in the Weimar Institute in Weimar, California, and later at the Shriners Hospital in San Francisco.{{Cite web |date=2017-10-22 |title=Pat Morita |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/pat-morita# |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=Television Academy Interviews |language=en}} For long periods, he was wrapped in a full-body cast, and he was told that he would never walk.{{cite news

|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/25/AR2005112500990.html

|title= Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita, 73; Played 'Karate Kid' Teacher|access-date=May 21, 2010 |newspaper= Washington Post |date= November 26, 2005| first=Patricia | last=Sullivan}} During his time at a sanatorium near Sacramento, Morita befriended a visiting priest who would often joke that, if Morita ever converted to Catholicism, the priest would rename him to "Patrick Aloysius Ignatius Xavier Noriyuki Morita."Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ZuYxG_q_I38 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200508202042/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuYxG_q_I38&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|last=FoundationINTERVIEWS |title=Pat Morita discusses changing his name to Pat – EMMYTVLEGENDS|date=August 29, 2011|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuYxG_q_I38|access-date=March 22, 2019}}{{cbignore}} Released from the hospital at age 11 after undergoing extensive spinal surgery and learning how to walk, Morita was transported from the hospital directly to the Gila River camp in Arizona to join his interned family.{{citation |last=Thurber |first=Jon |title=Pat Morita, 73; Actor Starred in 'Karate Kid' Movie Series | newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |date=November 26, 2005 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-nov-26-me-morita26-story.html}} After about a year and a half, he was transferred to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center.{{cite video|time=25:00|last1=Herman|first1=Karen|title=Pat Morita Interview|url=http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/pat-morita#|website=Archive of American Television|publisher=Academy of Television, Arts & Sciences Foundation|date=October 13, 2000|access-date=February 22, 2016}}

After World War II ended, Morita moved back to the Bay Area and he graduated from Armijo High School in Fairfield, California, in 1949. For a time after the war, the family operated Ariake Chop Suey, a restaurant in Sacramento, California,{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/NS/Obituary.aspx?pid=15750717|title=Featured Memorial – Pat Morita Obituary|date=2005|publisher=Legacy.com|access-date=July 20, 2013}}*^a "After the war, Morita's family tried to repair their finances by operating a Sacramento restaurant. It was there that Morita first tried his comedy on patrons." — ¶ 11. jokingly described by Morita years later as "a Japanese family running a Chinese restaurant in a black neighborhood with a clientele of blacks, Filipinos and everybody else who didn't fit in any of the other neighborhoods".{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-22-ca-20471-story.html|title=Morita's Long Road to Miyagi|work=Los Angeles Times|last=Champlin|first=Charles|date=June 22, 1986|access-date=October 16, 2020}} Morita would entertain customers with jokes and serve as master of ceremonies for group dinners.{{cite web|url= http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/pat-morita|title= Archive of American Television|access-date=April 21, 2010 |work= Emmy Legends }} After Morita's father was killed in 1956 in a hit-and-run while walking home from an all-night movie, Morita and his mother kept the restaurant going for another three or four years. Needing a regular job to support his wife and a newly born child, Morita became a data processor in the early 1960s with the Department of Motor Vehicles and other state agencies, graduating to a graveyard shift job at Aerojet General. In due time, he was a department head at another aerospace firm, Lockheed, handling the liaison between the engineers and the programmers who were mapping out lunar eclipses for Polaris and Titan missile projects.

However, Morita suffered from occupational burnout and decided to quit his job and try show business. He began working as a stand-up comedian at small clubs in Sacramento as well as San Francisco, taking the stage name "Pat Morita," in part due to the presence of comedians including Pat Henry and Pat Cooper, in addition due to memories of the priest he had befriended as a boy. Morita struggled for many years in comedy, until fellow performer—ventriloquist Hank Garcia—told him to try his luck in Los Angeles. Sally Marr, Lenny Bruce's mother, acted as his agent and manager after he moved to Los Angeles, and booked him in the San Fernando Valley and at the Horn nightclub in Santa Monica. Morita sometimes worked as the opening act for singers Vic Damone and Connie Stevens and for his mentor, the comedian Redd Foxx.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/490TsUYe5f4 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130105200759/http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&client=mv-google&hl=en&rl=yes&feature=relmfu&v=490TsUYe5f4 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|last=FoundationINTERVIEWS|title=Pat Morita discusses his mentor Redd Foxx - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG|date=August 29, 2011|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=490TsUYe5f4|access-date=March 22, 2019}}{{cbignore}} Morita used the nickname "The Hip Nip".{{cite news |title=At County Fair: 'Hip Nip' To Perform Here |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-napa-valley-register-at-county-fair/149097682/ |work=The Napa Valley Register |date=6 June 1967 |location=Napa CA |page=3 |format=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |last1=Inman |first1=Julia |title=TV Scene: 'Hip Nip' Gave Up Hit Show For Uncertain New Series |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-julia-inman-tv-s/149097974/ |work=The Indianapolis Star |date=24 August 1976 |location=Indianapolis IN |page=17 |format=Newspapers.com}}

File:Ron Howard and Pat Morita in Happy Days 1975 promo.jpg, left) on the TV series Happy Days in the 1975–76 season.]]

File:Happy Days Arnold's Wedding 1976.jpg. Arnold asks Fonzie (Henry Winkler) to be his best man at his traditional Japanese wedding ceremony.]]

Morita's first movie roles were as a henchman in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) and a similar role in The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), starring Don Knotts. Rowan and Martin's Laugh In (1968 Season 1 Episode 9) Morita had appearances in different skits on the show. He also appeared in the 4th episode of the 1st season of The Courtship of Eddie's Father (TV series). Morita had other notable recurring television roles on Sanford and Son (1974–1976) as Ah Chew, a good-natured friend of Lamont Sanford, and as South Korean Army Captain Sam Pak on the sitcom M*A*S*H (1973, 1974).{{cite web|url= http://www.today.com/id/10202732|title='Karate Kid' star Pat Morita dies at 73|access-date=June 5, 2018|work= Today.com |date=November 25, 2005 }} He was also cast as Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka in the war film Midway (1976).

Morita had a recurring role in the mid-1970's on Happy Days as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi (the new Japanese owner of Arnold's Drive-In) commencing in season three (1975–76). The story line was that Takahashi had purchased the Milwaukee eatery from the original Arnold but adopted the former's first name, explaining that it was too expensive for him to purchase the additional neon sign letters required to rename it "Takahashi's". As the new owner, he moonlighted as a martial arts instructor, teaching self-defense classes at the drive-in after hours. Morita also portrayed "Arnold" as a guest star during seasons four and six before returning as a recurring character for season ten (1982–83) and as a guest star in the final eleventh season. He also portrayed the character of Arnold on Blansky's Beauties in 1977.

Morita gained particular fame during the 1980s for his work as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid films. The original preferred choice was Toshiro Mifune, who had appeared in the Akira Kurosawa films Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), and The Hidden Fortress (1958), but the actor did not speak English.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/tech-media/2018/05/01/karate-kid-movie-oral-history-cobra-kai|title=The Crane Kick Is Bogus: A Karate Kid Oral History|access-date=May 13, 2019|last=Prewitt|first=Alex|date=May 1, 2018|magazine=Sports Illustrated|archive-date=May 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511132307/https://www.si.com/tech-media/2018/05/01/karate-kid-movie-oral-history-cobra-kai|url-status=live}} Morita later auditioned for the role, but was initially rejected for the part due to his close association with stand-up comedy, and with the character Arnold from Happy Days. Producer Jerry Weintraub in particular did not want Morita, as he saw him as a comedic actor. Morita eventually tested five times before Weintraub himself offered him the role,{{cite news|last=Parker|first=Ryan|date=June 22, 2017|title=Pat Morita Had to Test 5 Times for Mr. Miyagi in 'The Karate Kid'|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/karate-kid-pat-morita-had-fight-play-mr-miyagi-1015652|work=The Hollywood Reporter|location=Los Angeles, California|access-date=June 22, 2017}} ultimately winning it because he grew a beard and patterned his accent after his uncle.{{cite magazine |url=https://people.com/archive/pat-morita-1932-2005-vol-64-no-24/ |title=Pat Morita: 1932–2005|access-date=May 13, 2019 |last=Lipton |first=Mike |date=December 12, 2004 |magazine=People Magazine|archive-date=May 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513202252/https://people.com/archive/pat-morita-1932-2005-vol-64-no-24/|url-status=live}} After he was cast and although he had been using the name Pat for years, Weintraub suggested that he be billed with his given name to sound "more ethnic".{{cite web|last=Schuler|first=Dave|url=http://theglitteringeye.com/?p=1528 |title=Pat Morita, 1932–2005|publisher=Theglitteringeye.com|date=November 25, 2005|access-date=November 21, 2011}}

File:President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan posing for photos with Pat Morita and Yuki Morita.jpg

In the first film, The Karate Kid (1984), Morita was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a corresponding Golden Globe Award, for his role as the wise karate teacher Mr. Miyagi who taught bullied teenager Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) the art of Goju-ryu karate.{{cite news|title= Morita's Long Road To Miyagi |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=June 22, 1986|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-22-ca-20471-story.html|access-date=August 25, 2010 | first=Charles | last=Champlin}} He was recognized as Noriyuki "Pat" Morita at the 57th Academy Awards ceremony.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/p9FgzH4xizU Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20100722055841/http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=p9FgzH4xizU Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9FgzH4xizU|title=Haing S. Ngor winning Best Supporting Actor|date=July 13, 2008|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} He reprised the role two more times with Macchio in The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989). From 1989-90, he voiced Mr. Miyagi in the animated series, The Karate Kid, narrating the plot of each episode before the opening. In 1994, he starred in The Next Karate Kid with Hilary Swank (as bullied teenager Julie Pierce) instead of Macchio.

Morita was the star of two television series. In 1976, he starred as inventor Taro Takahashi in his own show, Mr. T and Tina, the first Asian-American sitcom on network TV. The sitcom was placed on Saturday nights by ABC and was quickly canceled after a month in the fall of 1976. He also starred in the ABC detective show Ohara (1987–1988); it was cancelled after two seasons due to poor ratings.

File:Pat Morita.jpg

Morita went on to play Tommy Tanaka in the Kirk Douglas-starring television movie Amos, receiving his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination and second Golden Globe Award nomination for the role.

File:Pat Morita (handprints in cement).jpg at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park]]

He wrote and starred in the World War II romance film Captive Hearts (1987). He hosted the educational home video series Britannica's Tales Around the World (1990–1991). He made an appearance on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1994 Season 5 episode “Love Hurts”. He also made a guest appearance on a 1996 episode of Married... with Children. Later in his career he starred on the Nickelodeon television series The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (1996–1998), and had a recurring role on the sitcom The Hughleys (2000). He went on to star in the short film Talk To Taka as a sushi chef who doles out advice to anyone who will hear him. He voiced the Emperor of China in Disney's 36th animated feature Mulan (1998) and reprised the role in Mulan II (2004), a direct-to-video sequel and Kingdom Hearts II.{{cite news|url= https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/2005-11-26/news/17398855_2_pat-morita-mr-miyagi-karate-kid |title= Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita, 73; Played 'Karate Kid' Teacher|access-date=May 21, 2010 |work= San Francisco Chronicle }} He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994.

He spoofed his role as "Mr. Miyagi" in a series of commercials for Colgate toothpaste; he portrayed the white-clad Wisdom Tooth, hailing Colgate as "The Wise Choice". He also co-starred with Ichiro Suzuki in a 1996 Nissan commercial aired in Japan.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klD921E5vKA |title=1996年頃のCM イチロー ノリユキ・パット・モリタ ニッサン自動車 NISSAN |date=2015-10-06 |last=zaruemon channel 02 |access-date=2024-08-02 |via=YouTube}}

He had a cameo appearance in the 2001 Alien Ant Farm music video "Movies". His appearance in the video spoofed his role in The Karate Kid. In 2002, he made a guest appearance on an episode of Spy TV. In 2003, he had a cameo on an episode of the sitcom Yes, Dear, as an unnamed karate teacher, potentially being Miyagi. He would also reprise his role (to an extent) in the stop-motion animated series Robot Chicken in 2005.

Pat Morita died of kidney failure, following a urinary tract and gallbladder bacterial infection, on November 24, 2005, at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 73.

He was cremated at Palm Green Valley Mortuary and Cemetery in Las Vegas, Nevada.{{cite news |title=Morita, Mr. Miyagi of 'Karate Kid' Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110045641/morita-mr-miyagi-of-karate-kid-dies/ |access-date=September 23, 2022 |work=The Signal |date=November 26, 2005}}

Roles created prior to his death were included in a few posthumous works. He voiced Master Udon in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Karate Island" (the episode was dedicated to his memory). He had a role in the independent feature film Only the Brave (2006), about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, where he plays the father of lead actor (and director) Lane Nishikawa (the film included two other Karate Kid stars, Yuji Okumoto and Tamlyn Tomita).{{cite web

|url=http://konakitchen.com/meet-yuji/

|title=Meet Yuji Okumoto

|access-date=January 6, 2021

|publisher=konakitchen.com

}} He also had roles in Act Your Age (2011), Royal Kill (2009), and Remove All Obstacles (2010).{{cite web|url=http://www.jamisondoor.com/rao.asp |title=Order Your Free Copy of HCR's new movie – "Remove All Obstacles" |access-date=June 21, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708061928/http://www.jamisondoor.com/rao.asp |archive-date=July 8, 2012 }}

The fifth episode of the Netflix series Cobra Kai was dedicated in his memory.{{cite news|last=Rothman|first=Michael|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/cobra-kai-paid-tribute-karate-kid-icon-pat/story?id=54887612|title=How 'Cobra Kai' paid tribute to 'Karate Kid' icon Pat Morita aka Mr. Miyagi|date=May 2, 2018|publisher=ABC News|access-date=May 18, 2018}} In-universe, Mr. Miyagi died on November 15, 2011, but is frequently referenced via archive footage from the original films.

Morita's contributions to cinema and his legacy have been the subject of two documentaries including Pat Morita: Long Story Short and More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story in which he appeared in archival footage.{{Cite web |title=PAT MORITA: LONG STORY SHORT – Asian Film Festival, Los Angeles |url=https://asianfilmfestival.us/?haru_video=pat-morita-long-story-short |access-date=March 10, 2023 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Dick |first=Jeremy |date=January 8, 2021 |title=More Than Miyagi Trailer Celebrates the Life and Legacy of Karate Kid Star Pat Morita |url=https://movieweb.com/more-than-miyagi-trailer-pat-morita/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |website=MovieWeb |language=en}}

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{{Commons category|Pat Morita}}

• {{AFI person | 120809-Pat-Morita }}
• {{IMDb name|0001552}}
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• {{emmytvlegends name|pat-morita}}
• [https://www.biography.com/news/george-takei-pat-morita-japanese-american-internment-camps George Takei and Pat Morita’s Harrowing Childhood Experiences in Japanese American Internment Camps] - Biography Channel, May 4, 2021.
• [https://people.com/movies/ralph-macchio-on-karate-kid-costar-pat-morita-legacy/ Ralph Macchio on His Friend and 'Karate Kid' Costar Pat Morita: His Legacy 'Shines Brighter Than Ever'] - People, November 6, 2022

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Category:1932 births

Category:2005 deaths

Category:American male actors of Japanese descent

Category:American male comedians

Category:American comedians of Asian descent

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male video game actors

Category:American male voice actors

Category:Comedians from California

Category:Deaths from kidney failure in the United States

Category:Japanese-American internees

Category:Male actors from California

Category:People from Fairfield, California

Category:People from Sacramento County, California

Category:Actors from the Las Vegas Valley

Category:20th-century American comedians

Category:21st-century American comedians

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors