Overview (5)

Mini Bio (1)

Spouse (3)

Trade Mark (3)

Short stature





His role of the wise and wonderful Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid (1984)



The role of restaurant owner Arnold from Happy Days (1974)

Trivia (26)

Attended and graduated from Armijo High School in Fairfield, California, USA.





While performing as a stand-up comic in Los Angeles, he was discovered by Redd Foxx . This led to several appearances as Ah Chew on Sanford and Son (1972).

He was often billed as the "Hip Nip" for his stand-up comic performances.



Was a huge fan of the Green Bay Packers football team.



Diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis as a child and was told that he would never walk again, thereafter spending nine years in hospitals, after which he emerged able to walk.





He was the first American-born Asian actor nominated for an Academy Award. It was for his role of Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid (1984).

Had two daughters with Yukiye Kitahara and one with Kathleen Yamachi.



Was the subject of a popular Internet myth, wherein he owned a Japanese-style restaurant called 'Miyagi's' on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, USA. However, according to Morita himself, in an about.com interview, he had no connection with or to the restaurant.



Buried at Palm Green Valley Memorial Park - Clark County, at 6701 North Jones Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.





Last movie he ever filmed was Royal Kill (2009) (original working title: Princess) also starring Eric Roberts and Lalaine , and which was not released until four years after his death.



During his funeral procession, his former co-star Ralph Macchio of The Karate Kid (1984) was quoted to have said, "Forever, my Sensei" towards the other mourners.

While he portrayed Mr. Miyagi, a Japanese immigrant who spoke (broken) English with a cement-thick Japanese accent, in real life Morita was an American citizen from birth, who spoke with non-heavily accented fluent American English..





The scene that sealed his nomination for best supporting actor in The Karate Kid (1984), in which Miyagi gets drunk and weeps over the death of his wife and child in the U.S. Manzanar California Internment Camp for Japanese citizens of the United States, was nearly cut out of the film. The studio thought the scene was unnecessary and wanted it cut, but director John G. Avildsen argued that it was important to Miyagi's character, and finally the studio relented, allowing the scene to be kept in. Also, during casting of the film, the studio wanted legendary Japanese actor Toshirô Mifune to play Miyagi, but Avildsen and producer Jerry Weintraub thought Mifune's interpretation of the character would be far too serious for what the film needed.

Morita was a closet alcoholic. Heavy drinking, which his doctors urged him to stop, was the primary contributing cause of his death.



He and his family were placed in an internment camp during World War II, Manzanar in California, one of ten camps located throughout the USA. He was given the name "Pat" by his Manzanar camp priest.



He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6633 Hollywood Blvd. on August 4, 1994.





Completed shooting of scenes or voice acting for ten films, TV shows, and video games before his death, but all ten were released years after the fact ( Royal Kill (2009) in 2009, and Act Your Age (2011) in 2011, and the last, Ship Ahoy! (1924) as late as 2014, which was nine full years after his death.).



Best remembered by the public for his role as the wise sensei, Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid (1984) and its sequels.

As a child, Pat and his family were forced to relocate to an internment camp in Arizona. After about a year, they were transferred to a camp called Manzanar, in Northern California. Most Japanese-Americans were interned in one of about a dozen such camps across the country during World War II. Much later, he and many other survivors of the camps were paid some compensation by the U.S. government and given a formal apology. The amount of compensation did not begin to make up for the confiscated property that was taken from them before or during their internment.



Even though Pat Morita's character "Mr. Miyagi" was a karate master, he actually didn't know any karate in real life at all.



Due to delayed releases, Morita continued appearing in films until 2014, nine years after his death.



Appeared as "Mr. Wisdom Tooth" in a series of commercials for Colgate toothpaste, which he hailed as "the Wise Choice".





Sometime around 1971, Redd Foxx gave Pat $3,500 when he needed help for a down payment to buy a house.

Personal Quotes (16)



Thanks to the Japanese and Geronimo John Wayne became a millionaire.

I still have a young attitude.



You may have heard that back in the States there are some people who are smoking grass. I don't know how you feel, but it's sure easier than cutting the stuff.



I don't know of any other creature on earth other than man that will sit in a corner and cry because of some painful experience in the past.



"Hip Nip," [a nickname given to him by a musician] just sounds groovy. A drummer laid it on me.



I began in an era where four-letter words were not allowed.



I went from being an ailing child to a public enemy.



A lot happens in 20 years.



I didn't have a childhood.



I never was able to do karate. That's calling me a good actor. I act like I can do anything.



[at the time] The idea of a Japanese comedian was not only a rarity, it was non-existent.





[Upon being nominated for the Oscar] I'm awkward at these things. Just being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for [ The Karate Kid (1984)] was a real surprise and I was a little uncomfortable.

I'm in semi-retirement, but what am I going to retire to? I don't ride horses, I don't golf anymore. I shoot a game of pool every now and then.



Only in America could you get away with the kind of comedy I did.



It's been a career filled with very low valleys and some wonderful, high peaks.



I've been working on my autobiography, just pecking away in longhand. The more you write, the more you remember. The more you remember, the more detail you recall. It's not all pleasant!

