"Mr. Miyagi" Dies At 73
By Aldene Fredenburg

Pat Noriyuki Morita, the character actor who made famous thecharacter of Mr. Miyagi in the "Karate Kid" movies, has died athis home in Las Vegas at the age of 73.

With over a hundred film credits and over 60 TV credits to hisname, Morita appeared in episodes of "M*A*S*H" and "Magnum PI"before capturing the popular imagination as Arnold on thelong-running "Happy Days" series. Morita left the show in 1976to star in a short-lived series of his own, "Mr. T and Tina." Hewon the breakout role of the humble, wise, and kindheartedMiyagi opposite Ralph Macchio as teenaged Daniel in the first"Karate Kid" movie in 1984, and reprised the role in "The KarateKid" Parts II and III, also starring Macchio, in 1986 and 1989.In 1994 he recreated the Miyagi character for "The Next KarateKid" opposite an up-and-coming young actress, Hilary Swank, asJulie. The 1984 movie earned him an Oscar nomination.

The immensely popular "Karate Kid" movies in some ways wereoverblown and simplistic; the bullied victims, first Daniel andthen Julie, were viciously bullied and victimized; the villainswere unremittingly evil and violent. But the Miyagi characterwas pure gold. At once a loving parent figure and strictdisciplinarian, he lived and taught a peaceful wisdom whichhelped both of his young students to a deeper understanding ofthemselves and a kind of self-control more important than



anyphysical self-defense lessons.

Most of the humor in the films surrounded the character ofMiyagi, who also exhibited the most complexity of any characterin the series. He was at once wise and flawed; in one scene, hedrank himself to sleep in an attempt to deal with the loss,years earlier, of his wife and newborn child. They had died inManzanar, a California internment camp which detained thousandsof Japanese Americans during World War II as a "securitymeasure". In the movie, it is revealed that Miyagi had receivedthe news of their deaths while he was serving with distinctionin the U.S. Army in Europe, service for which he had receivedthe Bronze Star. The scene touches indirectly on Morita's ownexperiences; he was nine years old when World War II began, andhe and his parents spent much of the war in an internment campin Arizona.

Morita co-wrote and starred in the 1987 film "Captive Hearts," alittle-known film about a Japanese town which first captures andthen protects two downed American airmen during the last days ofWorld War II. The quiet film exhibits a gentleness whichsuggests that the equally gentle nature of Miyagi was areflection of Morita himself rather than a creative choice bythe authors or directors of the "Karate Kid" series.

Actors and other celebrities come and go in the attentions ofthe American public, and many have a flash of fame and then areforgotten. But others remain in our hearts and minds, and cometo be seen almost as kin. With the passing of Pat Morita, itseems as if we've lost a much beloved member of our Americanfamily.

About the author:Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwesternNew Hampshire and frequently contributes to Tips andTopics. She may be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com.