Karate Kid star Pat Morita dies
23:19 2005-11-25
Asian-American actor Pat Morita, whose Hollywood career spanned four decades, has died at the age of 73.
His wife tells the Associated Press that her husband died at home Thursday of natural causes.
Mr. Morita was among the first Asian-American actors to regularly appear in television and films. He is most famous for his role as a Japanese martial arts instructor in the 1984 movie "The Karate Kid," and as a restaurant owner in the hit 1970s American television show, "Happy Days," reports Voice of America.
Born in California to immigrant fruit pickers, he was among the thousands of Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps during World War II. But it was the role in 1984's Karate Kid that would define Morita's career.
The part of a quiet caretaker who takes a bullied teenager under his wing to teach him martial arts was much spoofed in the years that followed.
Morita appeared in the film's three sequels, including 1994's the Next Karate Kid opposite a young Hilary Swank.
His other roles included Honeymoon in Vegas, Spy Hard, and Even Cowgirls get the Blues, informs BBC News.
O.Ch.
23:19 2005-11-25
Asian-American actor Pat Morita, whose Hollywood career spanned four decades, has died at the age of 73.
His wife tells the Associated Press that her husband died at home Thursday of natural causes.
Mr. Morita was among the first Asian-American actors to regularly appear in television and films. He is most famous for his role as a Japanese martial arts instructor in the 1984 movie "The Karate Kid," and as a restaurant owner in the hit 1970s American television show, "Happy Days," reports Voice of America.
Born in California to immigrant fruit pickers, he was among the thousands of Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps during World War II. But it was the role in 1984's Karate Kid that would define Morita's career.
The part of a quiet caretaker who takes a bullied teenager under his wing to teach him martial arts was much spoofed in the years that followed.
Morita appeared in the film's three sequels, including 1994's the Next Karate Kid opposite a young Hilary Swank.
His other roles included Honeymoon in Vegas, Spy Hard, and Even Cowgirls get the Blues, informs BBC News.
O.Ch.
