Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932, Isleton, California, USA – November 24, 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) was an American actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, before becoming known to television audiences for his recurring role as diner owner Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on the sitcom series Happy Days (1975-83). He was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of martial arts mentor Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid (1984), which would be the first of a media franchise in which Morita was the central player.
Morita was the series lead actor in the television program Mr. T and Tina and in Ohara, a police-themed drama. The two shows made history for being among the few TV shows with an Asian-American series lead. He also played recurring or featured roles as Captain Sam Pak on M*A*S*H, Ah Chew in Sanford and Son, and Mike Woo on The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. He was the voice of The Emperor of China in the Disney animated film Mulan (1998), and its sequel Mulan II (2004).
Aside from his 1985 Oscar nod, Pat Morita was twice nominated for Golden Globe Awards (Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for The Karate Kid and Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for the made-for-television film Amos), and an Emmy Award. In 1994, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture industry. In 2015, he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame.
Morita was born on June 28, 1932, in Isleton, California, to Japanese immigrant parents. Morita's father, Tamaru, born in 1897, immigrated to California from Kumamoto Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu in 1915. Tamaru's wife, Momoe, born in 1903, immigrated to California in 1913. Noriyuki, as Pat was named, had a brother named Hideo (Harry) who was twelve years older.
Morita developed spinal tuberculosis (Pott disease) at the age of two and spent the bulk of the next nine years in the Weimar Institute in Weimar, California, and later at the Shriners Hospital in San Francisco. For long periods, he was wrapped in a full-body cast, and he was told that he would never walk. During his time at a sanatorium near Sacramento, Morita befriended a visiting priest who would often joke that, if Morita ever converted to Catholicism, the priest would rename him to "Patrick Aloysius Ignatius Xavier Noriyuki Morita." Released from the hospital at age 11 after undergoing extensive spinal surgery and learning how to walk, Morita was transported from the hospital directly to the Gila River camp in Arizona to join his interned family. After about a year and a half, he was transferred to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center.
| Year | Image | Character | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 
|
Emperor of China | Mulan II |
| 1998 | 
|
Emperor of China | Mulan |
| 1989 | 
|
Miyagi Yakuga | The Karate Kid |