James Shigeta Net Worth

Having a net worth of around $2 million, James Shigeta is one of the wealthiest actors in Hollywood. His career has spanned over three decades, and his role in films such as Ghost Wars, Aliens, and The Terminator has led him to the top of his field.

Early life

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, James Shigeta played romantic lead in several Hollywood films. He was one of the few Asian-American men to play a romantic lead in a major film.

He is remembered for his deep voice and sensuous screen presence. He has appeared in many major and minor television series over the years. He was also a vocalist in the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. He toured with the Honolulu Theater and appeared in a Las Vegas revue called Holiday in Japan. He performed in many supper clubs across the United States under the stage name Guy Brion.

Shigeta is one of the most famous Japanese American actors. He was a leading man in five Hollywood films from 1959 to 1961. He starred in the film “Walk Like A Dragon” in 1960. It was an offbeat western, focusing on racial conflict. It was directed by James Clavell. It also starred Nobu McCarthy and Jack Lord.

He was born in Hawaii in 1929. He attended New York University. He later studied drama and acting. He had a strong vocal talent, which led him to perform in supper clubs throughout the US. He sang under the stage name Guy Brion.

He was a member of the Capella choir at the University of Hawaii. He performed in supper clubs, where he became known as the “Frank Sinatra of Japan”.

He was a singer on Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour talent show, where he was discovered. He eventually won $2000 for his audition.

Film career

During his fifty-year career in films, James Shigeta became one of the biggest East Asian stars in the U.S. Despite his initial fame, he never gained the type of lead role that most Asian actors had in the 1950s and 60s. He has been credited as a pioneer for the Asian American film industry.

The first big break in his Hollywood career came in 1959, when he starred in Sam Fuller’s crime drama The Crimson Kimono. The film is a classic love triangle with a twist, involving a sailor who falls in love with a geisha. In addition to his starring role, Shigeta played the supporting character of Joe Kojaku, a Japanese-American detective.

He next starred in a romantic comedy, Cry for Happy. In this drama, a US Navy photographer is stationed in Japan during the Korean War, where he falls in love with a young woman.

Then, in 1960, Shigeta had a breakthrough, winning the Golden Globe Award for “Most Promising Newcomer.” He also had a lead role in James Clavell’s western Walk Like a Dragon. In this movie, he played a Chinese man who resents his people’s subservience to whites.

Later that year, he appeared in the musical Flower Drum Song. He was also cast in the remake of the 1937 Shangri-La movie, which was a box-office disaster. He also appeared in Paradise, Hawaiian Style, where he played Danny Kohana, a friend of Rick Richards.

Death

Among the most popular and successful East Asian-American actors of the 20th century, James Saburo Shigeta was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He studied drama at New York University, and was a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. He appeared in a number of films and television series. His breakthrough role as a romantic lead came in the 1960s, when he was named one of the Golden Globe Award winners for best actor.

While he was a singer and musician, he shifted his career to acting in the late 1950s. He had roles in a number of romantic films, including “The Crimson Kimono” (1959), “Flower Drum Song” (1961) and “Cry for Happy” (1961). He was also a contract actor with MGM and Columbia Pictures.

He starred in “Paradise, Hawaiian Style” (1973) as Danny Kohana, a friend of Rick Richards. He was also a co-star with Robert Mitchum in the crime film, “The Yakuza” (1974). He later lent his voice to the 1998 animated film, “Mulan” and to the soundtrack of the movie.

He also had a small role in the 1973 musical, “Lost Horizon.” He was cast as the monk Brother To-Len. In the documentary, The Slanted Screen, Jeff Adachi noted that Shigeta was not a “Hollywood star”. He was “a humble performer” who was “involved in theater and supper clubs across the country.”

His acting career began with his participation in a talent show, Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour, in which he won $2,000. He subsequently enrolled in the 298th infantry of the Hawaii National Guard and served in the Korean War. He was promoted to a Staff Sergeant in the US Marine Corps.