Makoto Iwamatsu

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Makoto Iwamatsu , also Mako ( Japanese 岩松 信 , Iwamatsu Makoto ; born December 10, 1933 in Kobe , Japan , † July 21, 2006 in Somis , California ), was a Japanese actor .

Life

Iwamatsu grew up with his grandparents because his parents studied art in the United States. When Japan declared war on the United States in 1941, his parents were interned.

After the end of the war, Iwamatsu moved to the United States to live with his parents, who worked for the Office of War Information in New York City to study architecture. When he became a US citizen in 1956, he considered it a duty to enlist in the military. There he appeared on stage at military events of the US Army and had initial successes.

Instead of continuing to study architecture, he enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse in California . In 1959 he made his debut in the film Never So Few . For his role Po-Han in the film Gunboat on the Yangtze River , he was nominated for an Oscar in 1966.

He was married to the actress Shizuko Hoshi . With her he had two daughters. Iwamatsu has worked with Chuck Norris repeatedly for many years . Iwamatsu also appeared in series again and again; among others in Magnum , M * A * S * H and Das A-Team .

Makoto Iwamatsu succumbed to esophageal cancer . His last role was in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , where he originally played the rat Splinter. In the episode “Stories from Ba Sing Se” by Avatar - The Last Airbender, Uncle Iroh mourns his fallen son Lu Ten, followed by the words “In memory of Mako”.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Iwamatsu, Makoto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 岩松 信 (Japanese); Mako
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Kobe , Japan
DATE OF DEATH July 21, 2006
Place of death Somis , California, USA