Miyoshi Umeki
First East Asia-born woman to win an acting Oscar.
She won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1957 film Sayonara.[1] Miyoshi Umeki, a performer who sang and acted, became the initial woman born in East Asia to receive an Academy Award for her acting work.[1][2]
Quick Facts
- Other names
- Nancy Umeki
- Born
- 8 May 1929
- Birthplace
- Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan
- Died
- 28 August 2007
- Place of death
- Licking, Missouri, U.S.
- Citizenship
- Japan, United States (from mid-1960s)
- Occupation
- Singer, actress
- Years active
- 1953–1972
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Following the conclusion of World War II, while still a teenager, she started singing in nightclubs in Japan, performing under the stage name Nancy Umeki.[3][2] Joshua Logan noticed Umeki because of her work on Godfrey's program, and he subsequently chose her for a role in Sayonara.[3][2] For originating the role of Mei Li in the Broadway debut of Flower Drum Song, she received a Tony Award nomination in the category of Best Actress in a Musical.[4][5] For three seasons, from 1969 through 1972, she portrayed the housekeeper Mrs. Livingston on the television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father.[6][2]
Once that series concluded its run, she stopped acting entirely.[6][2]
What the cited sources add
The Masterworks Broadway site notes that Umeki was the first Asian and the only Asian woman ever to win an Academy Award.[2] An obituary in The Independent states that her Oscar win was a surprise, as the tipped favorites were Elsa Lanchester and Carolyn Jones.[7] The Masterworks Broadway site explains that she started her singing career at ninety cents a night with a U.S. Army G.I. jazz band in Otaru.[2] The Independent obituary adds that her only prior movie experience in Japan was playing a Siamese cat in a fairy tale.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Miyoshi Umeki" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bernstein, Adam. "Actress Miyoshi Umeki, 78, Dies of Cancer". The Washington Post. September 5, 2007.; "Oscar winner Miyoshi Umeki dies at 78", USA Today, September 5, 2007; "A Single Heart Can Transform a Nation", Google Arts & Culture, May 2023; "Miyoshi Umeki – Broadway Cast & Staff IBDB", www.ibdb.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Miyoshi Umeki", The Official Masterworks Broadway Site. facts only, no text reused. masterworksbroadway.com
- Wikipedia, "Miyoshi Umeki" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bernstein, Adam. "Actress Miyoshi Umeki, 78, Dies of Cancer". The Washington Post. September 5, 2007.; Lavietes, "Miyoshi Umeki, 78, Actress Who Won an Oscar in '57, Dies", The New York Times, September 6, 2007, p. B7; Bernstein, Adam. "Actress Miyoshi Umeki, 78, Dies of Cancer". The Washington Post. September 5, 2007. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Miyoshi Umeki" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Oscar winner Miyoshi Umeki dies at 78", USA Today, September 5, 2007; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Miyoshi Umeki – Broadway Cast & Staff IBDB", www.ibdb.com. facts only, no text reused. ibdb.com
- Wikipedia, "Miyoshi Umeki" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Li, "Why did Miyoshi Umeki, the only Asian actress to ever win an Oscar, destroy her trophy?", February 22, 2018 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Obituary: Miyoshi Umeki, independent.co.uk. Accessed November 13, 2023.. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Miyoshi Umeki (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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