Mako Iwamatsu, commonly known simply by
Mako, was a Japanese-American actor and voice actor. He was born in Kobe,
Japan on December 10th, 1933 and died July 21st, 2006. He immigrated to
The United States as a young child, later becoming a citizen. He also had married actress Shizuko Hoshi, and left two daughters (both actresses) and three grandchildren.
Mako's first film role was an uncredited one in the 1959 movie
Never So Few. Later in 1965, frustrated with a lack of roles available for Asian actors he founded the East West Players company, a theatre guild for aspiring Asian actors, which he remained director of until 1989. He appeared in various films after establishing the organization starting with the 1966 movie
The Sand Pebbles and also including
The Hawaiians,
The Killer Elite,
Highlander III The Sorcerer /
Final Dimension (as well as
Highlander The Series),
Conan The Barbarian 1982 and
Conan The Destroyer,
Under the Rainbow,
Sidekicks,
RoboCop 3,
Seven Years in Tibet, and
Pearl Harbor, among various other movies and voice acting roles. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in
The Sand Pebbles, and a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a musical for his role in the original of
Pacific Overtures.
Mako's last leading role was in the 2005 film
Cages. The last work he contributed to was the animated movie
TMNT, which he recorded the voiced role for mere days before his death. The finished film was later dedicated to his memory. An episode of
Avatar The Last Airbender also had the send-off, 'In Honour Of Mako', and gave a character in its
sequel series his name. Mako has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7095 Hollywood Blvd.
Not to be confused with the Japanese voice actress of
the same name,
that freaky fish guy, or with
The Lifestream.
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