Miyoshi Umeki

About Miyoshi Umeki

Who is it?: Actress, Soundtrack
Birth Day: May 08, 1929
Birth Place:  Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan, Japan
Occupation: Actress, singer
Years active: 1953–1972
Spouse(s): Wynn Opie (m. 1958; div. 1967) Randall Hood (m. 1968–1976)
Children: 1

Miyoshi Umeki

Miyoshi Umeki was born on May 08, 1929 in  Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan, Japan, is Actress, Soundtrack. Although she projected the typical Japanese female stereotype of humbleness, delicacy and subservience in most of her prime film and stage roles, beguiling, tiny-framed Miyoshi Umeki was nevertheless an assertive scene-stealer. This docile and deceptive-looking talent with the cropped hair and heart-shaped face radiated charm and innocence so effortlessly, she managed to make history at Academy Awards time as the first Asian performer to receive an acting Oscar for her superb work in the tragic post-WWII film drama Sayonara (1957).Miyoshi Umeki was born on May 8, 1929, in Otaru on the large northern island of Hokkaido. The daughter of a prominent Japanese iron factory owner and the youngest of nine children, she developed an early passion for music and learned to play the mandolin, harmonica and piano. She also enjoyed singing American-styled tunes much to the chagrin of her parents. This propensity for Americanized pop songs later paid off.Following WWII she traveled with a U.S. Army G.I. jazz band in Japan as Nancy Umeki and was the first to record American songs, for RCA Victor Japan, in her homeland. She became an extremely popular radio and nightclub artist which triggered a move to the United States in 1955. Again, the diminutive vocalist demonstrated a demure prowess for gaining attention with her one-season regular role (1955-1956) on the musical variety show Arthur Godfrey and His Friends (1949). With that popularity, she was able to sign with Mercury Records and eventually released two albums.The timing couldn't have been more perfect. From this recognition she was immediately cast in the Marlon Brando/Miiko Taka, Sayonara (1957) based on James A. Michener's best-selling romantic tale. She had made a minor movie debut a few years earlier in a Japanese musical. Inspired casting opposite comedian Red Buttons in a tragic, counterpoint romance as a WWII airman and his naive Japanese war bride who fall victim to post-war prejudice led to supporting Academy Awards for both actors. Despite her win, she would not make another film for four years.Following this Oscar-winning endeavor, Umeki conquered Broadway with the 1958 musical Flower Drum Song in which she proved a highlight as a starry-eyed Chinese immigrant / mail-order bride with her captivating rendition of A Hundred Million Miracles, earning a Tony nomination in the process. She scored additional points after recreating her role for the film version of Flower Drum Song (1961).Ms. Umeki made only five American films in all. Her other appearances were support roles in the naval comedy Cry for Happy (1961) in which she and her Sayonara (1957) co-star Miiko Taka were paired with Glenn Ford and Donald O'Connor; the Jim Hutton / Paula Prentiss service comedy The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962); and the Laurence Harvey / France Nuyen racial drama A Girl Named Tamiko (1962). She also tread fairly lightly on TV with random 60s appearances on The Donna Reed Show (1958), Dr. Kildare (1961), Rawhide (1959) and Mister Ed (1958), among others.Duing the 1950s and 1960s, Umeki was an occasional guest on variety shows for such TV titans as Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin, Andy Williams and Ed Sullivan. Arguably her biggest claim to fame was as Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper and quiet pillar of strength to a widower and his young son, in the heart-tugging TV comedy The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969). Following this renewed attention, Umeki went into a complete self-imposed retirement.She lived a predictably sedate family life for better than three decades. Her 1958 marriage to TV producer/director Win Opie ended in divorce after 9 years. She subsequently married TV director Randall Hood in 1968 and the couple ran a business renting editing equipment to film studios and university film programs until his sudden death in Los Angeles in 1976. A longtime resident of North Hollywood, she eventually moved to Missouri with advancing age to be nearer to her son and his family. She died of cancer at age 78 on August 28, 2007, at the Licking Park Manor nursing home in Licking, Missouri.
Miyoshi Umeki is a member of Actress

Does Miyoshi Umeki Dead or Alive?

As per our current Database, Miyoshi Umeki has been died on August 28, 2007(2007-08-28) (aged 78)\nLicking, Missouri, U.S..

🎂 Miyoshi Umeki - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday

When Miyoshi Umeki die, Miyoshi Umeki was 78 years old.

Popular As Miyoshi Umeki
Occupation Actress
Age 78 years old
Zodiac Sign Gemini
Born May 08, 1929 ( Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan, Japan)
Birthday May 08
Town/City  Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan, Japan
Nationality Japan

🌙 Zodiac

Miyoshi Umeki’s zodiac sign is Gemini. According to astrologers, Gemini is expressive and quick-witted, it represents two different personalities in one and you will never be sure which one you will face. They are sociable, communicative and ready for fun, with a tendency to suddenly get serious, thoughtful and restless. They are fascinated with the world itself, extremely curious, with a constant feeling that there is not enough time to experience everything they want to see.

🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs

Miyoshi Umeki was born in the Year of the Snake. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Snake are seductive, gregarious, introverted, generous, charming, good with money, analytical, insecure, jealous, slightly dangerous, smart, they rely on gut feelings, are hard-working and intelligent. Compatible with Rooster or Ox.

Some Miyoshi Umeki images

Biography/Timeline

1950

She recorded for RCA Victor Japan from 1950–1954 and appeared in the film Seishun Jazu Musume. She recorded mostly American jazz standards, which she sang partially in Japanese and partially in English, or solely in either language. Some of the songs she sang during this period were "It Isn't Fair", "Sentimental Me", "My Foolish Heart", "With A Song In My Heart", "Again", "Vaya Con Dios", "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" and "I'll Walk Alone". She moved to the United States in 1955 and after appearing on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts (she was a series regular for one season), she signed with the Mercury Records label and released several singles and two albums.

1952

Two other Japanese language songs were recorded in 1952.

1955

She signed with Mercury Records in 1955 and recorded the following 45 rpm singles:

1958

Flower Drum Song (Broadway Original Cast; 1958) – Sony Records Flower Drum Song (Film Soundtrack; 1961) – Decca Records

1959

Miyoshi recorded a version of "Pick Yourself Up" for Mercury Records in 1959, but the song was never released.

1962

Although a guest on many television variety shows, she appeared in only four more motion pictures through 1962, including the film version of Flower Drum Song (1961). The others were Cry for Happy (1961), The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962) and A Girl Named Tamiko (1963).

1969

From 1969–1972 she appeared in The Courtship of Eddie's Father as Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper, for which she was again nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She retired from acting following the end of the series.

2013

Miyoshi – Singing Star of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (MGW-12148) (1958) (reissue of the Arthur Godfrey album with some tracks replaced) Tracks:

2016

Miyoshi Sings For Arthur Godfrey (MG-20165) (1956) Tracks:

2018

She was a Tony Award and Golden Globe nominated Actress and the first and (as of 2018) only Asian woman to win an Academy Award for acting.

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