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Jack Soo
Actor
Born October 28, 1917Died January 11, 1979 (61 years)
A genial, laid back, slumber-eyed character player especially adept at the relaxed wisecrack or dry comment, Japanese-American actor Jack Soo was born in Oakland, California, in 1917, his real name being Goro Suzuki. In the post-WWII years, he entertained as a stand-up performer in nightclubs and had made a reasonable dent on the Midwest circuit by the time he earned his big break playing the club MC/comedian in the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit Broadway musical "Flower Drum Song" in 1958. Three years later, Soo was upgraded to the Sammy Wong character in the film version and decided to settle in Hollywood. Over the next decade, despite a typical lack of roles for Asian-Americans, he managed to find a niche for his hip, deadpan demeanor on TV and a few other films including Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963), the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), and John Wayne's controversial pro-Vietnam War film The Green Berets (1968). Soo is probably best remembered for his smart-aleck Detective Sgt. Nick Yemana on Barney Miller (1974), one of the more popular sitcoms of the 1970s alongside Hal Linden and Abe Vigoda. Sadly, he died of cancer during the show's fifth season in 1979 at the height of his popularity.
Filmography
1978 | Return from Witch Mountain · as Mr. "yo-Yo" Yokomoto |
1977 | Busting Loose (TV Series) |
1975 | Barney Miller (TV Series) · as Nick Yemana |
1974 | Amy Prentiss (TV Series) |
1974 | Police Woman (TV Series) |
1973 | She Lives! · as Dr. Osikawa |
1973 | Police Story (TV Series) |
1972 | M*A*S*H (TV Series) · as Quoc |
1971 | The Jimmy Stewart Show (TV Series) · as Woodrow Yamada |
1970 | The Odd Couple (TV Series) · as Chuk Mai Chin |
1969 | The Monk · as Hip Guy |
1968 | The Name of the Game (TV Series) · as Sergeant George Kwan |
1968 | Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) · as Sam Quong |
1968 | Julia (TV Series) |
1968 | The Green Berets · as Colonel Cai |
1967 | Ironside (TV Series) · as Joe Lee |
1967 | Thoroughly Modern Millie · as Oriental #1 |
1966 | The Oscar · as Sam |
1965 | The Wackiest Ship in the Army (TV Series) · as Shiru |
1964 | Valentine's Day (TV Series) |
1963 | Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? · as Yoshimi Hiroti |
1961 | Flower Drum Song · as 'sammy' Fong |
1951 | The Red Skelton Show (TV Series) · as Jimmy Howe |
1950 | The Jack Benny Program (TV Series) · as Jack Soo, The Japanese Agent |