Flower Drum Song

Myoshi Umeki:Mei Li

Nancy Kwan:Linda Low

James Shigeta:Wang Ta

Jack Soo:Sammy Fong

The "Flower Drum Song" was the first major movie to have an almost completely Asian cast, but Nancy Kwan was the only one from the four lead players who was of Chinese descent. The other three, Myoshi Umeki, James Shigeta and Jack Soo, were all of Japanese origin. Several of the cast members, including Myoshi Umeki and Jack Soo, had played in the original Broadway production of "Flower Drum Song." Except for Nancy Kwan, all of the actors and actresses in the movie did their own singing and the other three leads all had singing careers before working in films.

Myoshi Umeki(1929-2007)

Myoshi Umeki, who was born on the Japanese island of Hokkaido in 1929, advanced her musical talents as a child when she learned to play the mandolin, harmonica and piano. Her career as a nightclub singer began after World War II. By the early 1950s, she was popular and talented enough to earn a recording contract with RCA Victor Japan, but she sang American and not Japanese songs.

Umeki continued performing as a singer in Japan on radio and in nightclubs. She also appeared in a Japanese musical, but, in 1955, she left her successful Japanese career to try her luck in America.

Once in America, Umeki got her first break on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts and she became a regular on the show for one season. Her success on that show led to a recording contract.

In 1958, Umeki starred in her first American film, "Sayonara," and she achieved immediate success and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. "Sayonara" was followed by success on Broadway in the "Flower Drum Song." She was nominated for a Tony award for her performance as Mei Li, a role she recreated in the movie version three years later.

Umeki had a busy acting career in the early 1960s, with four films ("Flower Drum Song," 1961; "Cry for Happy," 1961; "The Horizontal Lieutenant," 1962; "A Girl Named Tamiko," 1963) and television appearances on variety shows and specials, including a starring role in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" for Hallmark Hall of Fame in 1962. She continued working in television and co-starred on the popular TV comedy series, "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," from 1969 to 1972. She then retired and lived a quiet life until her death from cancer in 2007.

Nancy Kwan(1939-)

Nancy Kwan was born Kwan Ka Shen in Hong Kong in 1939 to a Chinese father and a Scottish mother. As a child, she hid out in western China with her father and brother until the end of WW II. Several years after the war, at the age of 12, Kwan went to school in England and began to study dancing at a ballet school. After graduation, she attended the Royal Ballet School in England and she earned a teaching certificate in ballet.

In 1960, Kwan was discovered by accident by producer Ray Stark and he flew her to Hollywood and cast her as the lead in "The World of Suzie Wong." A year later, she had the chance to use her dancing talents in the film version of the "Flower Drum Song."

Throughout the 1960s, Kwan kept busy appearing in movies and on television in both the US and Europe. However, in 1970, her father became seriously ill and Kwan returned to Hong Kong to be with him. She did not return to the US or to acting until 1979. After returning, Kwan worked primarily on TV series and made-for-TV movies, as well as commercials and a few theatrical films. Her last film, in 2007, was "Hollywood Chinese."

Website: www.nancy-kwan.com

James Shigeta(1933-)

James Shigeta was born to Japanese parents in Hawaii in 1933. He didn't study acting until he was at New York University. After graduating, he won first prize singing on Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour.

Shigeta's acting and singing career was interrupted by the Korean War when he enlisted in the Marine Corps. After his service ended, he moved to Japan and resumed his singing and acting career, appearing in four Japanese movie musicals.

Shigeta returned to the US in the late 1950s and in 1959 he appeared in his first US film, "Crimson Kimono." Although he made several other films, Shigeta did not receive recognition until 1961 with his lead role in the "Flower Drum Song."

After the "Flower Drum Song," Shigeta appeared in only one other musical, "Lost Horizon" in 1973. However, he had a good career appearing in mostly dramas, making 23 films from 1959 to 2002. He also had fairly steady work in television from 1961 to 1999. Since 2000, he has made only two TV appearances, one in 2004 and a second one in 2005.

Jack Soo(1917-1979)

Jack Soo was born Goro Suzuki in Oakland, California in 1917. His parents were Japanese and Soo was in a Japanese internment camp during WW II. While in the camp, Soo lifted the spirits of the other internees by singing and dancing for them. After the war, he continued singing and dancing as a nightclub entertainer, primarily in the midwestern section of the US.

In 1958, Soo was discovered performing in a nightclub by the producers of the Broadway version of the "Flower Drum Song" and he was hired for the role of Frankie Wing, the entertainer in Sammy Fong's nightclub who sang "Gliding Through My Memoree." Three years later, Soo was elevated to the part of Sammy Fong in the movie version of the "Flower Drum Song."

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Soo found steady work in movies and mostly on television series. He is probably best remembered for his regular role as Sergeant Yemana on the popular comedy series, "Barney Miller" (1975-1978). Soo died from cancer in 1979 while working on the series.