Actor Mako dies; appeared in at least 5 MASH episodes
deb...@comcast.net
By Jocelyn Y. Stewart, Times Staff Writer
July 23, 2006
In the early days of his acting career, when most roles offered to
Asian American actors were caricatures or stereotypes, Mako took just
such a part and used it to open the doors of Hollywood and Broadway to
others.
In the 1966 film "The Sand Pebbles," he played the Chinese character
Po-han, who spoke pidgin English, called the white sailors in the movie
"master," and treated them as such. But through the power of his
acting, Mako transformed Po-han and compelled the audience to empathize
and identify with the engine-room "coolie."
The portrayal earned Mako an Academy Award nomination, which he used to
continue his push for more and better roles for Asian American actors.
Mako, who in 1965 co-founded East West Players, the nation's first
Asian American theater company, died Friday of esophageal cancer at his
home in the Ventura County town of Somis. He was 72.
"What many people say is, 'If it wasn't for Mako there wouldn't have
been Asian American theater,' " said Tim Dang, current artistic
director of East West Players, based in the Little Tokyo district of
Los Angeles. "He is revered as sort of the godfather of Asian American
theater."
In an acting career that spanned more than four decades, Mako was a
familiar face in film and television. His TV roles included appearances
on "McHale's Navy," "I Spy," "MASH," "Quincy," and "Walker, Texas
Ranger." In films, he was a Japanese admiral in "Pearl Harbor" and a
Singaporean in "Seven Years in Tibet." He was Akiro the wizard in
"Conan the Barbarian" and "Conan the Destroyer" with now-Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
But Mako had a larger view of the possibilities for Asian American
actors.
As artistic director of East West Players, Mako trained generations of
actors and playwrights. He staged classics such as Shakespeare's
"Twelfth Night," Chekhov's "Three Sisters," and lesser-known
contemporary works. He devoted the entire 1981 season to works
pertaining to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
The series coincided with the opening of a national discussion on
internment reparations. It was a risky endeavor, but Mako said it was
crucial.
"Mako, being one of the founders of East West Players 40 years ago,
truly is the role model and the pioneer," said Tisa Chang, artistic
producing director of the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York. "He
nurtured so many playwrights."
Though his own career was marked by moments of success, it was also
forged by struggle.
"Generally for him it was particularly hard, because he was an
immigrant.... There was the linguistic challenge," said George Takei,
who played Sulu in "Star Trek." "But he recognized we needed more
opportunities to practice our craft."
Mako was born Makoto Iwamatsu in Kobe, Japan, on Dec. 10, 1933. When he
was 5, his parents left Japan to study art in New York. Mako stayed
behind to be raised by his grandparents.
Because his parents lived on the East Coast, they were not interned
during World War II. Instead they ended up working for the U.S. Office
of War Information and were later granted residency. Mako joined them
when he was 15.
He had a plan to become an architect and enrolled at the Pratt
Institute in New York. But that plan changed when a friend asked him to
design a set and do lighting for an off-Broadway children's play. Mako
was hooked: "That's when the trouble began," he said. "I was out of
class so much that I lost my draft deferment."
During his two years in the military, he traveled to Korea and Japan
and re-immersed himself in Japanese culture. After his discharge, he
moved to California and studied theater at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Mako married Shizuko Hoshi, a dancer, choreographer and actress. She
survives him along with their daughters, Sala and Mimosa. Mako had been
working primarily in television and on stage when he was cast as Po-han
in "The Sand Pebbles." The movie, which starred Steve McQueen, told the
story of a nonconformist sailor assigned to a U.S. gunboat patrolling
China's Yangtze River in 1926. It was widely interpreted as a metaphor
for U.S. involvement in Vietnam, which brought filmmaker Robert Wise
scorn from some quarters and praise from others. In one scene, Po-han
dons boxing gloves to fight an American sailor to save the honor of a
Chinese woman forced to work in a brothel. The sailor, who towers over
his Chinese opponent, lands some crushing blows, but Po-han responds to
knock the sailor to the floor and win the fight.
Po-han might have been a less noteworthy character in the film if not
for Mako's acting abilities. Other actors played such parts and simply
"did what they were told to do: giggle here, shuffle over there, bow
and go out," Takei said. "He was one of the early truly trained actors
who was able to take stock roles, roles seen many times before, and
make an individual a live and vibrant character."
Mako used the prominence the Oscar nomination gave him to address the
dearth of parts for Asian Americans in general. Unless a script
specifically called for an Asian American, producers and casting
directors rejected them for roles.
"Of course we've been fighting against stereotypes from Day One at East
West," Mako said in a 1986 interview with The Times. "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."
The company's mission soon expanded to include training writers.
"Unless our story is told to [other] people, it's hard for them to
understand where we are," Mako said.
ARR
AndrewJ
OVERTURES.
-- Andrew M.
Glenn
Also, in the ep where he is the North Korean soldier forcing Hawk to
work on another soldier, is he speaking Korean? Or Japanese?
Glenn
George Hiebert
where ever, I always enjoyed his work. He sure was great at playing the
tough ass guy.
You rocked Mako!
dusty
"George Hiebert" <ge...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:HiWwg.220771$iF6.72701@pd7tw2no...
George Hiebert
"dusty" <dus...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:PxXwg.10188$tE5....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> I liked him as the little wizard guy in Conan...
Damn straight, I forgot about that one.
Mako was everywhere.
shandarose
movie was "Rise". He will definitely be sorely missed.
Cyn
He was in Memoirs Of A Geshia....was really good in it!
He also did a lot of cartoon voices...he was the evil "Aku" in the Samuri
Jack series...great series btw.
Cyn
<deb...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:1153669115.7...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
Daniel
He was also in a epsiode of "The Green Hornet". He had a fight scene
with Bruce Lee.
Take Care,
Daniel....
VINCE
I saw him and Soon Talk Oh live on Broadway
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