Miyoshi Umeki was born as the youngest of nine children to a prominent Japanese iron factory owner. She developed an early passion for music, learning to play the mandolin, harmonica, and piano, and enjoyed singing American-styled tunes, much to the chagrin of her parents.
Although she projected the typical Japanese female stereotype of humbleness, delicacy, and subservience in most of her prime film and stage roles, she was an assertive scene-stealer. This docile and deceptive-looking talent with cropped hair and a heart-shaped face radiated charm and innocence so effortlessly that she managed to make history at the Academy Awards time as the first Asian actor to receive an acting Oscar for her superb work in the tragic post-WWII film drama Sayonara (1957).
Following World War II, she traveled with a U.S. Army G.I. jazz band in Japan as Nancy Umeki and was the first to record American songs for RCA Victor Japan. She became an extremely popular radio and nightclub artist, which sparked a move to the U.S. in 1955. Again, she demonstrated a demure prowess for gaining attention with her one-season regular role (1955-1956) on the musical variety show Arthur Godfrey and His Friends (1949).
Wielding the timing couldn't have been more perfect. From this recognition, she was immediately cast in Sayonara (1957),which was based on James A. Michener's best-selling romantic tale. Inspired casting opposite comedian Red Buttons in a tragic, counterpoint romance as a World War II airman and his naive Japanese war bride who fall victim to post-war prejudice led to supporting Academy Awards for both actors. Despite her win, she would not make another film for four years.
Following her Oscar win, she starred on Broadway with the 1958 musical Flower Drum Song, in which she proved a highlight as a starry-eyed Chinese immigrant/mail-order bride with her captivating rendition of A Hundred Million Miracles, earning a Tony nomination in the process. She scored additional points after recreating her role for the film version of Flower Drum Song (1961).
In total, she made only five American films in all. Her other appearances were supporting roles in the naval comedy Cry for Happy (1961),The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962),and A Girl Named Tamiko (1962). She also tread fairly lightly on TV with random 60s appearances on The Donna Reed Show (1958),Dr. Kildare (1961),Rawhide (1959),and Mister Ed (1961),among others.
During the 50s and 60s, she was an occasional guest on variety shows for TV titans such as Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin, Andy Williams, and Ed Sullivan. Arguably her biggest claim to fame was Mrs. Livingston in the heart-tugging TV comedy The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969). Following this renewed attention, she went into a complete self-imposed retirement.
She lived a sedate family life for more than three decades. Her 1958 marriage to TV producer/director Win Opie ended in divorce after nine years. She subsequently married TV director Randall Hood in 1968. They ran a business renting editing equipment to film studios and university film programs until his sudden death in Los Angeles in 1976. A longtime resident of North Hollywood, she eventually moved to Missouri with advancing age to be nearer to her son and his family. She died of cancer at age 78 on August 28, 2007, in Licking, Missouri.
