Morita went on to play Tommy Tanaka in the Kirk Douglas-starring television movie Amos, receiving his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination and second Golden Globe Award nomination for the role. Morita eventually tested five times before Weintraub himself offered him the role. Miyagi, wanting a dramatic actor for the part and labeling Morita a comedic actor. Weintraub did not want to cast Morita for the part of Mr. Although he had been using the name Pat for years, producer Jerry Weintraub suggested that he be billed with his given name to sound "more ethnic." Morita put this advice into practice and was recognized as Noriyuki "Pat" Morita at the 57th Academy Awards ceremony. Though he was never a student of karate, he learned all that was required for the films. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a corresponding Golden Globe Award, reprising his role in three sequels: The Karate Kid Part II (1986), The Karate Kid Part III (1989) and The Next Karate Kid (1994), the last of which starred Hilary Swank instead of Macchio. Miyagi, who taught young "Daniel-san" ( Ralph Macchio) the art of karate in The Karate Kid.
Morita gained particular fame playing wise karate teacher Mr. Morita had another notable recurring television role on Sanford and Son (1974–1976) as Ah Chew, a good-natured friend of Lamont Sanford. Morita revived the character of Arnold on Blansky's Beauties in 1977 and eventually returned to Happy Days for the 1982–1983 season. The sitcom was placed on Saturday nights by ABC and was quickly canceled after a month in the fall of 1976. T and Tina, the first Asian-American sitcom on network TV. After the season's end, he left the show to star as inventor Taro Takahashi in his own show Mr. He had a recurring role on the show Happy Days as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi, owner of the diner Arnold's for the show's third season (1975–1976) and made guest appearances in 19. He also was cast as Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka in the war film Midway (1976). Later, a recurring role as South Korean Army Captain Sam Pak on the sitcom M*A*S*H (1973, 1974) helped advance the comedian's acting career. Morita's first movie roles were as a stereotypical henchman in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) and another similarly-stereotypical role in The Shakiest Gun In The West (1968), starring Don Knotts. Foxx later gave him a role on his sitcom Sanford and Son in the early 1970s. Morita sometimes worked as the opening act for singers Vic Damone and Connie Stevens and comedian Redd Foxx. Sally Marr, Lenny Bruce's mother, acted as his agent and manager in his early days. He struggled for many years as a stand-up comic.
Morita would entertain customers with jokes and serve as master of ceremonies for group dinners. After about a year and a half, he was transferred to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center.įor a time after the war, the family operated Ariake Chop Suey, a restaurant in Sacramento, California.
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It was during his time at a sanitorium near Sacramento that he was given his stage name, "Pat." 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. For long periods he was wrapped in a full-body cast and was told that he would never walk. Morita developed spinal tuberculosis (Pott disease) at the age of two and spent the bulk of the next nine years in Northern Californian hospitals, including the Shriners Hospital in San Francisco. Noriyuki, as Pat was named, had a brother named Hideo (Harry) who was twelve years older. Tamaru's wife Momoe, born in 1903, had emigrated to California in 1913.
Morita's father Tamaru, born in 1897, had immigrated to California from Kumamoto Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu in 1915.
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