James Shigeta, 85, Leading Man in ‘Flower Drum Song'

James Shigeta, an actor who challenged social boundaries when he emerged in the late 1950s as one of the first Asian-Americans to play leading roles in Hollywood, died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 85.

The cause was pulmonary failure, his brother Clarence said.

Mr. Shigeta traveled a distinctive path to stardom. He was born in the American territory Hawaii to a family of Japanese descent. His native language was English, but he first became an acting and singing star in Japan, where he took language lessons while performing in the 1950s. He served in the American military during the Korean War.

 

  James Shigeta and Nancy Kwan in the 1961 film “Flower Drum Song,” based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Credit Universal Studios, via Everett Collection    

His fame in Japan led to performances in Las Vegas, an appearance on “The Dinah Shore Show” and, in 1959, his first role in Hollywood, in “The Crimson Kimono.” He starred as a detective who falls for a key witness in a case, played by Victoria Shaw.

“YES, this is a beautiful American girl in the arms of a handsome Japanese boy!” read a promotional poster for the film that showed the lovers kissing.

In 1960 he shared a Golden Globe for most promising newcomer. The next year he seemed to be fulfilling the prophecy, with leading roles in two films, “Bridge to the Sun,” about an interracial couple, and “Flower Drum Song,” an adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about arranged marriages — and resistance toward them — among some Chinese-Americans.