Noriyuki "Pat" Morita

 Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005)

Morita was well known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Kesuke Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984. Morita was also the lead actor in the television program Mr. T and Tina, regarded as the first American sitcom centered on a person of Asian descent, and Ohara, a police-themed drama. Both television shows were aired on ABC, but they were short-lived. His first movie role was as a stereotypical henchman in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), and he later had a reoccurring role on M*A*S*H, the latter helped him gain notoriety. Morita was also on Happy Days in the third season, and also appeared on The Odd Couple and Sanford and Son. Morita gained robust fame playing wise karate teacher Keisuke Miyagi, who taught young "Daniel-san" (Ralph Macchio) in The Karate Kid. He reprised his role for the sequels; The Karate Kid, Part II (1986), The Karate Kid, Part III (1989) and The Next Karate Kid (1994).

Ironically, Morita actually never studied karate, and learned enough for the moves required in the films. Morita went on to play Tommy Tanaka in the television movie Amos (for which he received Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award nominations), starring Kirk Douglas. One of Morita's last television roles was as Master Udon on the SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "Karate Island". Pat Morita died on November 24, 2005, at his home in Las Vegas of kidney failure.