Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Miyoshi Umeki Dies--Oscar Winner Dead At 78


The Houston Missouri Herald (Thanks Jen) is reporting today that Miyoshi Umeki died on August 29 at her home in Licking, Missouri. She was 78. Miyoshi won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1958 has been a frequent guess in the Timmy blind item which is why I'm reporting her death and also to say she is not involved in any way in the blind item.

From wiki

Miyoshi Umeki (b. May 8, 1929, Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan -- d. August 29, 2007, Licking, Missouri[1]), was an Academy Award-winning actress best known for her roles as Joe Kelly (Red Buttons)'s wife, Katsumi, in the 1957 film, Sayonara, and as housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston, in the TV series The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

Miyoshi Umeki (梅木美代志, Umeki Miyoshi?) (her birth name) began her career as a nightclub singer in Japan under the name Nancy Umeki (ナンシー梅木, Nancy Umeki?) before moving to the United States. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her first film role, Sayonara (1957), becoming the first Asian actress to win the award. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway premiere production of the musical Flower Drum Song, which opened in 1958.

She appeared in only four more motion pictures during her career, most notably the film version of Flower Drum Song (1961). During 1969-1972 she appeared in The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

As a recording artist she made several records for RCA Victor Japan and appeared in some musical shorts as Nancy Umeki until she moved to the US. After her appearance on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts (she was a series regular for one season), she signed with the Mercury Records label and released several singles and two albums.

Her first marriage was to television director Wynn Opie in 1958; they adopted one son. She later married Randall Hood, a marriage that lasted until his death in 1976. She and Hood also ran a theatrical lighting business that she dissolved after her husband's passing. She lived out the remainder of her life in the small town of Licking, Missouri, near her son and his family.


18 comments:

  1. Jeeeez...Ent.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I damn near had a heart attack when this page loaded!!!


    RIP Miyoshi U.

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  2. me too i was so thinking that he posted her because she was timmy which meant me and some many others were wrong...RIP

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  3. Anonymous10:22 AM

    it's like living in a real-time detective story! i can't wait for this to be revealed. none of the guesses sound quite right to me yet, and i've read, oh, about a thousand comments so far.

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  4. Helena--I just hope SHE didn't die of a heart attack after looking at this website and seeing so many speculate that she was a man.

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  5. I almost had a heart attack too! Geesh, ent.

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  6. Anonymous11:11 AM

    I never looked her up. I'm a lousy detective, I know, but I never even looked her up. Good thing that worked out.

    I can't get over how odd Alice Brady looks. Judy Holliday looks nothing like a man in drag, Kay Kendall looks just like a man in drag, and then Alice, well, Alice is just ODD.

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  7. So two down, how many left do we have to go? So one per day till the revelation? I love it.

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  8. There's no reveal guys. He's doing the same thing he did with DS. Remember? First it was a pic of someone we were guessing... then a video.... then still no proof. He's not going to tell us, because he made it up. Remember, he's an *sshole.

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  9. wouldn't it be wild if he revealed the murder BI from oh so long ago? now THAT'D be juicy =)

    anon, beat it! nobody at this blog wants to read your pessimistic comments. if he reveals or not hell, even if it's real or not, it's all in good fun. GO AWAY

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  10. God rest her soul, what a great talent she had.

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  11. oh Anon..are you feeling lonley and unwanted again? you really should try match.com sweetie rather than going around calling people *ssholes for attention.

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  12. So jax- did you get some kind of truth about DS that none of us got?
    I'm still waiting for proof. And ent is an *sshole- but that's my opinion. So, if there is no big reveal about Timmy- would anyone even care? Anything "ent" writes, you all will believe. I do think he's a pretty good fiction writer though.

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  13. Anonymous1:57 PM

    Anon--It's a mystery. Why do you spend so much time reading the blog of someone you think is an asshole? You MUST have something better to do.
    I think Ent is delightful.

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  14. To think we had such a long break from you anon, what do we owe the pleasure of your biting commentary, and unsurpassed wit? Do tell what we need to do to get ride of you again.

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  15. Anonymous3:42 PM

    There's a troll under the bridge.

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  16. Anonymous3:42 PM

    RIP Miyoshi.

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  17. anon, did you not see the over 1000 postings re: Timmy? Obviously people are enjoying this site and the people who don't? Have gone away.

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  18. RIP Miyoshi Umeki
    **************************

    on another note, I almost died when I thought you were reveling her to be Shimmy,lol.

    I have been doing a ton of research too but never post because you all beat me to it.

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