Mako Iwamatsu

Mako Iwamatsu married dancer, choreographer, actress Shizuko Hoshi with whom he had two daughters, Sala and Mimosa Iwamatsu, and three grandchildren.

At the age of 72, Mako passed away from esophageal cancer on July 21, 2006. A day before his death, it was announced that he had voiced the character Master Splinter in the yet-to-be released animated film ‘TMNT.’ The filmmakers decided to pay tribute to him by dedicating the finished movie to him.

Mako was born Makoto Iwamatsu on December 10, 1933 in Kobe, Japan to Atsushi Iwamatsu and Tomoe Sasako. His father, an artist and illustrator, and his mother, a children book author, had to leave their native country for the United States right before the World War II broke out. Mako was raised by his grandmother in his early years before he too moved to the US to join his parents in 1949 after the war ended. He had two siblings, a sister, actress Momo Yashima, and a brother, writer Chihiro Isa.

After graduating high school, he briefly studied architecture but eventually decided to enlist in the US Army in the early 1950s. It was during his military service that he began acting in plays for military personnel, developing a deep love for the performing arts. When he got out of the military, he enrolled at the famous Pasadena Community Playhouse in California.

Mako made his debut in the film ‘Never so Few’ (1959) where he appeared in an uncredited role, and landed his first credited appearance in CBS’ drama ‘The Lloyd Bridges Show’. Following this, his next considerable appearance was in NBC’s military comedy ‘Ensign O'Toole’, where he played multiple small roles.

He played multiple characters, Imperial Japanese officers, soldiers and sailors, in the situational comedy ‘McHale's Navy’ (1962-65). He would later portray a Japanese submarine captain the 1965 film based on the show.

In Robert Wise’s adventure drama ‘The Sand Pebbles’ (1966), he starred alongside the likes of Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, and Candice Bergen and held his own among these juggernauts of the industry.

He played the Chinese contract labourer Mun Ki in the Charlton Heston starrer ‘The Hawaiians’ (1970), an Inuit guide named Oomiak in Disney’s ‘The Island at the Top of the World’(1974), and Japanese secret agent Nakomuri in the comedy ‘Under the Rainbow’ (1981).

Mako worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger both in the fantasy adventure ‘Conan the Barbarian’ (1982) and its sequel ‘Conan the Destroyer’ (1984), portraying Akiro the wizard. In ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ (1986), he appeared as Vietnamese commander Vinh; in ‘Seven Years in Tibet’ (1997), as diplomat and military figure Kungo Tsarong; and in ‘Pearl Harbor’, as Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. His final live-action film, ‘Rise: Blood Hunter’ (2007) was released posthumously.

In 1965, there were only limited roles available for actors of Asian origin in the American theater scene. Deciding to change that, Mako and six others established the East West Players theater company, which not only served as a venue for Asian American actors to get better at the craft but also provided a safe environment for Asian American playwrights to thrive in. He was the company’s artistic director until 1989.