Miyoshi Umeki

Actor, singer

• Pronunciation: mee-YOH-shee oo-MEHK-ee
• Born: May 8, 1929
• Birthplace: Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan
• Died: August 28, 2007
• Place of death: Licking, Missouri

The first person of East Asian descent to win an Academy Award for acting, Miyoshi Umeki was a trailblazer for Asian performers in the United States. Famous for her acting skills and her singing, Umeki was a star of film, theater, and television, in addition to being an international recording star.

Birth name: Umeki Miyoshi

Areas of achievement: Film, theater

Early Life

Miyoshi Umeki was born on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, on May 8, 1929, into a large family. Her father owned a successful ironworks factory, and Umeki was surrounded by her family and a large number of servants and apprentices during her early life. As a young girl, Umeki started listening to American pop and standards recordings. She especially loved Billy Eckstine and tried to copy the singing styles of Doris Day and other female American pop stars. Because her family disapproved of American music, Umeki would practice singing under her covers and in secret places, but one of her older brothers encouraged her love of music and helped her learn to play instruments such as the mandolin and piano.

As a young girl, under the more westernized name Nancy Umeki, she began singing with American military bands and in a jazz group, becoming very popular on Japanese radio. Her popularity led to a record contract with the RCA Victor Japan record label, for which she produced standards albums sung in both Japanese and English. She starred in a 1953 Japanese musical film, Seishun jazu musume (Youthful jazz daughter). While singing at a nightclub, Umeki was approached by an American talent scout who urged her to move to the United States and expand her career opportunities. Umeki immigrated to the United States in 1955 and became a naturalized citizen.

Life’s Work

After moving to the United States, Umeki landed a regular job on the television show Arthur Godfrey and Friends, appearing throughout the 1955 season, and was featured in the film short Around the World Revue (1956), billed as Nancy Umeki. While performing on Godfrey’s show, Umeki was noticed by famed Broadway director Joshua Logan, who cast her in his upcoming film Sayonara (1957), opposite actor Red Buttons. This was a breakout opportunity for Umeki, who played the doomed war bride of an American soldier. Kept apart by prejudice and army red tape, she and her husband commit suicide. The film was a great success, earning Umeki the 1957 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was the first East Asian actor ever to win an Academy Award and, as of 2010, the only female East Asian actor to have received this accolade.

This was followed by Umeki’s being cast as a mail order Chinese bride in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical Flower Drum Song (1958). Although some disapproved of a Japanese actress playing a Chinese character, Umeki received rave reviews for her quiet and delicate performance, which earned her a Tony Award nomination for best supporting actress. She followed this by reprising the role in the film version, released in 1961. Umeki also continued to record music and put out albums and singles on the Mercury label.

Between 1961 and 1963, Umeki appeared in three other movies, each concerned in some way with East-meets-West plot contrivances. None of these movies was a great success. Also, between 1962 and 1964 Umeki acted in a handful of television shows, such as The Virginian, The Donna Reed Show, Dr. Kildare, Rawhide, and Mister Ed. During this time she also appeared on game shows and variety shows including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show, and The Dinah Shore Chevy Hour. However, it was not until 1969 that Umeki landed another major role, this time on the television series The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, on which she played Mrs. Livingstone, a Japanese housekeeper. Umeki was featured in the show for its entire three years and was nominated for a Golden Globe for best supporting actress in a television comedy. When the show was canceled in 1972, Umeki retired from show business.

From 1958 to 1967, Umeki was married to television producer Frederick W. Opie; she married Randall Hood in 1968 and had one son. After her retirement, Umeki and Hood ran a business renting editing equipment to the film industry, and Umeki devoted herself to being a wife and mother. Hood died in 1976. Umeki later moved to Licking, Missouri, where she died of complications from cancer on August 28, 2007, at the age of seventy-eight.

Significance

Miyoshi Umeki was the first Asian actress to receive top billing in Hollywood and on Broadway. Her quiet charm and great talent opened doors for a generation of Asian American actors after her. Although diminutive in height, she had a commanding presence on the stage and a beautiful singing voice that made her an audience favorite.

Bibliography

“Broadway: The Girls on Grant Avenue.” Time 22 Dec. 1958: 42–47. Print. An interview with Umeki and Pat Suzuki, stars of Flower Drum Song, discussing their roles and the rise of Asian American performers in the United States.

Lewis, David H. Flower Drum Songs: The Story of Two Musicals. Jefferson: McFarland. 2006. Print. Describes the controversies and success surrounding the original 1958 production of Flower Drum Song and the 2002 Broadway revival, as well as the positive and negative views of the Asian American issues raised by the play and its productions.

Lim, Shirley Jennifer. A Feeling of Belonging: Asian American Women’s Public Culture, 1930–1960. New York: New York UP, 2006. Print. Examines the lives of Asian American women as they discovered an identity for themselves as native-born Americans; includes discussion of Miyoshi Umeki.