R.I.P. Mister Miyagi

Okay, so it’s not very fair to call him Mister Miyagi. But late last week, Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita, who most of you know as Mister Miyagi from the Karate Kid flicks passed away.

I read about this yesterday when I picked up a copy of the Sac Bee while we were out on our Christmas Tree Hunt of 2005 (more on this in my next post). This really bummed me out. Almost as much as when Jim Varney (Ernest from the Ernest movies such as ‘Ernest Saves Christmas’) died when I was a senior in high school. I grew up watching the Karate Kid movies and it wasn’t until I was older that I realized that Pat Morita was really quite an accomplished actor.

He was born on June 28 in 1932 and had been in over 100 movies and minor TV appearances. He was also a major gues on over 70 TV shows. In his acting portfolio he played people ranging from Emperor Wei Wong in ‘Genghis Khan’ (2005), to Matsuo ‘Arnold’ Takahashi in the ‘Happy Days’ TV show, to Mr. Kesuke Miyagi in the ‘Karate Kid’ movies. He truly seemed like a genuine cool guy. I have yet to see him do a lousy job with any of his roles, even the ones that are more quirky than others. During his career, he was nominated for an Oscar, and Emmy, two Golden Globes and was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995

“First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature rule, Daniel San, not mine.” - Mister Miyagi

Related posts:

1. Web Stats Make Me Happy
2. Reveiw: Tokyo Godfathers
3. Are You a Believer?
4. My Review: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
5. R.I.P. Tony the Tiger

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