"Mr miyagi" Dies at 73

Pat Noriyuki Morita, the actor who made the character of Mr. Miyagi famous in the “Karate Kid” movies, died at his home in Las Vegas at the age of 73.

With over a hundred film credits and over 60 television credits to her name, Morita appeared in episodes of “M * A * S * H” and “Magnum PI” before capturing the popular imagination as Arnold in the long-running “Happy Days.” . Serie. Morita left the show in 1976 to star in her own short-lived series, “Mr. T and Tina.” He won the lead role of the humble, wise and good-natured Miyagi alongside Ralph Macchio as the teenage Daniel in the first “Karate Kid” movie in 1984, and reprized the role in “The Karate Kid” Parts II and III, also starring Macchio. . in 1986 and 1989. In 1994 he recreated the character of Miyagi for “The Next Karate Kid” alongside a promising young actress, Hilary Swank, as Julie. The 1984 film earned him an Oscar nomination.

The immensely popular “Karate Kid” movies were somewhat exaggerated and simplistic; the bullied victims, first Daniel and then Julie, were brutally intimidated and victimized; the villains were relentlessly evil and violent. But Miyagi’s character was pure gold. At the same time, a loving father figure and a strict disciplinarian, he lived and taught a peaceful wisdom that helped his two young students gain a deeper understanding of themselves and a kind of self-control more important than any physical self-defense lesson.

Most of the humor in the movies surrounded the character of Miyagi, who also exhibited the most complexity of any character in the series. He was both wise and flawed; In one scene, he drank himself to sleep in an attempt to cope with the loss, years before, of his wife and newborn son. They had died in Manzanar, a California internment camp that detained thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II as a “security measure.” In the film it is revealed that Miyagi had received the news of their deaths while serving with distinction in the United States Army in Europe, service for which he had received the Bronze Star. The scene indirectly touches Morita’s own experiences; He was nine when World War II began, and he and his parents spent much of the war in an internment camp in Arizona.

Morita co-wrote and starred in the 1987 film “Captive Hearts,” a little-known film about a Japanese city that first captures and then protects two fallen American airmen during the final days of World War II. The quiet film exhibits a sweetness that suggests that Miyagi’s equally gentle nature was a reflection of Morita himself rather than a creative choice from the authors or directors of the “Karate Kid” series.

Actors and other celebrities come and go in the attention of the American public, and many have a flash of fame and are then forgotten. But others remain in our hearts and minds, and they come to be seen almost as relatives. With the passing of Pat Morita, it seems that we have lost a much loved member of our American family.

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