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Abundantly busy and much loved Asian-American actor who became an on-screen hero to millions of adults and kids alike as the wise and wonderful Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid (1984), the sparkling Noriyuki Morita was back again dishing out Eastern philosophy and martial arts lessons for The Karate Kid, Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid, Part III (1989), and even for The Next Karate Kid (1994).However, putting all that karate aside, the diminutive Morita actually first started out as a stand-up comedian known as the Hip Nip in nightclubs and bars, and made his first on-screen appearance in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). He quickly adapted to the screen and showed up in small parts in comedies including in The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), alongside Don Knotts, and in Evil Roy Slade (1972) (TV) supporting John Astin; plus he was popular on TV Shows including "Sanford and Son" (1972) and "M*A*S*H" (1972).Morita got his next break playing the often-perplexed restaurant owner Arnold in two stints on the hugely popular "Happy Days" (1974) between 1975 and 1976 and again between 1982 and 1983. Morita was quite in-demand on the small screen and also scored the lead in his own cop show, "Ohara" (1987), plus he had guest-starred on other high-profile TV shows including "Magnum, P.I." (1980), "Murder, She Wrote" (1984), "Baywatch" (1989), and "The Hughleys" (1998).Although most often used as a minor character actor, he remained consistently busy and additionally lent his vocal talents to animated features such as Mulan (1998). However, his real strengths lay in portraying slightly oddball or unusual characters in offbeat films. He died of natural causes at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November 2005, at the age of 73. |
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