Pat Morita (Ah Chew) Mini Bio Pt. 2

His first movie role was as a stereotypical henchman in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). He also was cast as Rear admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka, in the film Midway in 1976. Later, a recurring role as South Korean Army Captain Sam Pak on the sitcom M*A*S*H helped advance the comedian's acting career.

He had a recurring role on the show Happy Days as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi, owner of the diner Arnold's. After the first season (1975–1976), he left Happy Days to star as inventor Taro Takahashi in his own show, Mr. T and Tina, the first Asian American sitcom on network TV. The sitcom was placed on Saturday nights by ABC and was quickly canceled after a month in the fall of 1976. In 1977, Morita starred in the short-lived Blansky's Beauties as Arnold. Morita eventually returned to Happy Days, reprising his role in the 1982–1983 season. He appeared in an episode of The Odd Couple and had a recurring role on Sanford and Son in the mid-1970s.

Morita gained worldwide fame playing wise karate teacher Kesuke Miyagi who taught young "Daniel-san" (Ralph Macchio) in The Karate Kid, a film that included the famous quote "Wax on, wax off" and also taught young "Julie-san" (Hilary Swank) in The Next Karate Kid, although in real life he did not know karate and spoke much better English. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as well as a Golden Globe and reprised his role as the sensei Mr. Miyagi in three sequels. Although he had been using the name "Pat Morita" for years, producer Jerry Weintraub suggested that Pat be billed with his given name to sound more ethnic.

Morita went on to play Tommy Tanaka in the TV movie Amos (for which he received Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award nominations), starring Kirk Douglas. He then starred as the title character in the ABC detective show Ohara which aired in 1987 and ended a year later due to poor ratings. He then wrote and starred in the World War II romance film Captive Hearts (1987). Late in his career, Morita starred on the Nickelodeon television series The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo and had a recurring role on the sitcom The Hughleys. He also made a guest appearance on an episode of Married With Children. He went on to star in Talk To Taka as a sushi chef who doles out advice to anyone that will hear him. In 1998, Morita voiced the Emperor of China in Disney's 36th animated feature Mulan and reprised the role in Kingdom Hearts II and Mulan II, a direct-to-video sequel.

Morita had a cameo appearance in the 2001 Alien Ant Farm music video "Movies". Morita's appearance in the video spoofed his role in The Karate Kid. He would also reprise his role (to an extent) in the stop-motion animated series Robot Chicken. In the episode, he is assumed to be Mr. Miyagi, but he immediately denies that by saying, "First of all, I'm Pat F'in Morita, ya nutsack!"

One of Morita's last TV roles was as Master Udon on the SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "Karate Island". The episode was dedicated to him after he died about six months after its first run. One of his last film roles was in the 2005 independent feature film, Only the Brave, about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, where he plays the father of lead actor (and director) Lane Nishikawa. His last movie was Royal Kill which also stars Eric Roberts, Gail Kim, and Lalaine and is directed by Babar Ahmed.

Pat Morita (Ah Chew) Mini Bio Pt. 1

"Noriyuki" Pat Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was an American actor who was well-known for playing the role of Arnold on Happy Days, Ah Chew on Sanford and Son, and best known as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.

Pat Morita was born in Isleton, California. He developed spinal tuberculosis at the age of two and spent the bulk of the next nine years in Northern California hospitals, including the Shriners Hospital in San Francisco. He was for long periods wrapped in a full body cast and was told he would never walk.

After a surgeon fused four vertebrae in his spine, Pat finally learned to walk again at the age of 11. By then, his Japanese American family had been sent to an internment camp to be detained for the duration of World War II.


He was transported from the hospital directly to the Gila River camp in Arizona to join them. It was at this time that he met a Catholic priest from whom he would later take his stage name "Pat". For a time after the war, the family operated Ariake Chop Suey, a restaurant in Sacramento, California. Teenage "Nori" would entertain customers with jokes and serve as master of ceremonies for group dinners.

Gregory Sierra (Julio Fuentes)

Gregory Sierra (born January 25, 1941) is an American actor known for his roles as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller and as Julio Fuentes, the Puerto Rican neighbor on Sanford and Son, where his character was often the brunt of racist insults and jokes via the show's main character, Fred G. Sanford (portrayed by Redd Foxx).

He also guest-starred as a Jewish radical in an unusually dramatic episode of All in the Family, working with the Hebrew Defense Association, an organization whose goal it was to stop anti-Semitism in the neighborhood. In the plot, he volunteers in helping to chase away neo-Nazi thugs presiding in the neighborhood during which they spray-painted a swastika on the Bunkers' door. He is later killed by a car bomb planted by the neo-Nazis. The actor later went on to star as Dr. Tony Menzies on the unsuccessful sitcom A.E.S. Hudson Street.

Sierra was cast as South American anti-Communist revolutionary "El Puerco" — whose friends simply call him "El" — on the serial spoof Soap, figuring prominently in the series' unresolved final episode in 1981. In 1984, he briefly became a main cast member of the then-new TV drama Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez; he asked to be written out of the series after just four episodes. More recently he had regular roles on the TV shows Zorro and Son, Something is Out There, and Common Law.

In 1992, Sierra played drug dealer Felix Barbossa in the Bill Duke-directed Deep Cover, which also starred Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum. He also played a man named Villanazul in the low-budget 1998 movie The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. He also appeared as Corbin Entek in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Second Skin" and played a fugitive on the run with Steve McQueen in Papillon.

Lynn Hamilton (Donna Harris)

Lynn Hamilton (born April 25, 1930 in Yazoo City, Mississippi) is an American actress, who made her film debut in John Cassavetes' Shadows (1959).

She may be best known for her role as "Donna Harris", a role she played infrequently on the sitcom Sanford and Son, from 1972 to 1977 as the elder Sanford's girlfriend, Donna.

She also had a recurring role as "Verdie" on The Waltons, and made appearances on such television sitcoms, soap operas and miniseries as 227, Dangerous Women, Generations, Port Charles and Roots: the Next Generations.

Nathaniel Taylor (Rallo Lawson)

Nathaniel Taylor (born March 31, 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.) is an American television actor, best known for portraying "Rollo Lawson" in the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son, and as Rerun's (Fred Berry) brother-in-law "Ike" in the sitcom What's Happening!!. Taylor's character "Rollo" once referred to Redd Foxx's character "Fred G. Sanford" as, "One cold-blooded old dude."

Don Bexley (Bubba Bexley) Mini Bio

Donald T. Bexley (March 10, 1910 – April 15, 1997) was an American actor and comedian, best known for playing Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx)'s friend Bubba Bexley on the 1970s television sitcom Sanford and Son. He was a standup comedian on the Chitlin' Circuit as a solo act and as part of comedy teams, during which time he became acquainted with Redd Foxx. Bexley recorded party albums with partner Dave Turner and worked constantly throughout the United States, though mainstream stardom eluded him. His greatest exposure came from his Sanford and Son appearances. He appeared as the same character in the Sanford and Son spin-off series The Sanford Arms. His other television credits include Laverne & Shirley, Cheers, T.J. Hooker, Hunter and The Royal Family He was the MC and comedian in the movie Sparkle. He retired from show business in the 1980s and returned to his native Virginia.

Donald T. Bexley died on April 15, 1997, at the age of 87, due to heart and kidney failure.

Whitman Mayo (Grady Wilson) Mini Bio Pt. 3

Though his role as Grady typecast him, Mayo did not let it define him. His professional growth took him some distance from the Watts junkyard of the NBC sitcom. He rounded out his career teaching drama at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as hosting Liars and Legends on Turner South.

Although best known for his television work, Mayo made several film appearances, including The Main Event with Barbra Streisand, D.C. Cab, Boyz in the Hood and Waterproof with Burt Reynolds.

Mayo also appeared as Reverend Banyon on the BET TV Movie Boycott in 2001 and in an episode of "Martin."

Mayo died of a heart attack at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital, a hospital bearing the same name as the character for which he was most well-known. He had resided in Fayetteville, Georgia since 1994 and was survived by his third wife Gail and their two children as well as his son of a previous relationship. His son Rahn Mayo is currently a member of the Georgia House of Representatives[2] representing House District 91. He is also survived by his daughters Tanya Mayo, Suni Mayo Simpson, and sons Pangi Rayson, Jon-jo Raysor and Jabrie Lovelace who currently resides in Washington, DC