news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051125/ap_on_en_mo/obit_morita
Morita died Thursday at his home in Las Vegas of natural causes, said his wife of 12 years, Evelyn. She said in a statement that her husband, who first rose to fame with a role on "Happy Days," had "dedicated his enti re life to acting and comedy." In 1984, he appeared in the role that would define his career and spawn c ountless affectionate imitations.
Ralph Macchio 's "Daniel-san," he taught karate while trying to catch flies with chopst icks and offering such advice as "wax on, wax off" to guide Daniel throu gh chores to improve his skills. Morita said in a 1986 interview with The Associated Press he was billed a s Noriyuki "Pat" Morita in the film because producer Jerry Weintraub wan ted him to sound more ethnic. He said he used the billing because it was "the only name my parents gave me." He lost the 1984 best supporting actor award to Haing S Ngor, who appear ed in "The Killing Fields." For years, Morita played small and sometimes demeaning roles in such film s as "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and TV series such as "The Odd Couple" a nd "Green Acres." His first breakthrough came with "Happy Days," and he followed with his own brief series, "Mr T and Tina."
Morita was prolific outside of the "Karate Kid" series as well, appearing in "Honeymoon in Vegas," "Spy Hard," "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" and "The Center of the World." He also provided the voice for a character in the Disney movie "Mulan" in 1998. Born in northern California on June 28, 1932, the son of migrant fruit pi ckers, Morita spent most of his early years in the hospital with spinal tuberculosis. He later recovered only to be sent to a Japanese-American internment camp in Arizona during World War II. "One day I was an invalid," he recalled in a 1989 AP interview.
After the war, Morita's family tried to repair their finances by operatin g a Sacramento restaurant. It was there that Morita first tried his come dy on patrons. Because prospects for a Japanese-American standup comic seemed poor, Mori ta found steady work in computers at Aerojet General. "Only in America could you get away with the kind of comedy I did," he co mmented. "If I tried it in Japan before the war, it would have been cons idered blasphemy, and I would have ended in leg irons. " Morita was to be buried at Palm Green Valley Mortuary and Cemetery. He is survived by his wife and three daughters from a previous marriage.
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Actor Pat Morita poses for a photo in this 1986 file photo. Morita, w hose portrayal of the wise and dry-witted Mr Miyagi in 'The Karate Kid' earned him an Oscar nomination, has died.
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