Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was an American film and television actor of Japanese descent.
He was well known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.
Pat was the lead actor in the television program Mr T And Tina, regarded as the first American sitcom centered on a person of Asian descent, and Ohara, a police-themed drama. Both television shows were aired on ABC, but they were both short-lived.
A documentary, More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story, was released on February 5, 2021, exploring Pat and his troubled history outside of acting and comedy. It is available to view on iTunes, Apple TV, Vimeo, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and Google Play; the official site is here
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Roles:
- Happy Days
- Thoroughly Modern Millie
- Hawaii Five-O
- M*A*S*H
- Columbo, episode "Etude in Black" (1972)
- Police Woman
- KungFu
- Midway
- Welcome Back, Kotter
- Chico and the Man
- Starsky & Hutch
- The Love Boat
- The Incredible Hulk (1977)
- When Time Ran Out...
- Magnum, P.I.
- The Karate Kid
- Alice in Wonderland
- Babes in Toyland
- Captive Hearts
- Genghis Khan
- Timemaster
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Burke's Law
- Murder, She Wrote
- Married... with Children
- Boy Meets World
- Baywatch
- Spy Hard
- Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
- Britannica's Tales Around the World (live-action segments)
- Mulan
- Desert Heat
- Savannah Smiles
- Brother (2000)
- The Center of the World
- Baywatch
- Robot Chicken
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Evil Roy Slade
- King Cobra (1999)
- Honeymoon in Vegas
- Big Bird in Japan (voiceover)
