Miiko Taka

Biography

Miiko Taka (July 24, 1925 – January 4, 2023) was an American actress of Japanese descent, best known for her memorable performance opposite Marlon Brando in Sayonara (1957). She worked in American film and television from the late 1950s through the early 1980s.

Early Life

Born Miiko Shikata in Seattle, Washington, Taka grew up in Los Angeles. During World War II, she and her family were incarcerated at the Gila River War Relocation Center in Arizona. After the war, she worked as a clerk at a Los Angeles travel agency before entering acting.

Acting Career

Taka made her film debut in Joshua Logan's Sayonara (1957). She was cast as Hana-Ogi, a Japanese performer who falls in love with an American Air Force pilot played by Marlon Brando. A talent scout discovered her while she was working outside the film industry, and she had no previous professional acting experience.

The film became a major success and won four Academy Awards. Taka's performance received positive critical attention and established her as a notable Japanese-American actress in Hollywood.

Other Notable Films

Following Sayonara, Taka appeared in several films, including:

• Hell to Eternity (1960)
• Cry for Happy (1961)
• Operation Bottleneck (1961)
• A Global Affair (1964)
• The Art of Love (1965)
• Walk, Don't Run (1966)
• Paper Tiger (1975)
• The Challenge (1982) 

She also appeared on television in series such as Hawaiian Eye, Adventures in Paradise, I Spy, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Her later television work included the acclaimed miniseries ** Shōgun (1980)**.

Personal Life and Death

Taka married Japanese-American actor Dale Ishimoto in 1944, and they had two children. She later married television news director Lennie Blondheim and, in 2003, Reginald Hsu.

Miiko Taka died on January 4, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 97.