Miyoshi Umeki
梅木 美代志
Umeki in a publicity photo for Flower Drum Song (1961)
Born(1929-05-08)May 8, 1929
Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan
DiedAugust 28, 2007(2007-08-28) (aged 78)
Licking, Missouri, U.S.
Other namesNancy Umeki
CitizenshipJapan
USA
Occupation(s)Singer, actress
Years active1953–1972
Spouses
Frederick Winfield "Wynn" Opie
​
​
(m. 1958; div. 1967)​
[1]
    Randall Firevod Hood
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1968; died 1976)​
    Children1
    AwardsAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress
    Signature (Japanese)
    美代志 梅木, Umeki's signature in Japanese, from an index card. Her signature is written with her given name first and then her family name.
    Signature
    Miyoshi Umeki

    Miyoshi Umeki (梅木 美代志, Umeki Miyoshi, or ミヨシ・ウメキ Miyoshi Umeki, May 8, 1929 – August 28, 2007) was a Japanese-American singer and actress.[2] Umeki was nominated for the Tony Award and Golden Globe Award and was the first East Asia-born woman to win an Academy Award for acting.[3][4]

    Life

    Born in Otaru, Hokkaido, she was the youngest of nine children. Her father owned an iron factory.[2] After World War II, Umeki began her career as a nightclub singer in Japan, using the name Nancy Umeki.[5] Her early influences were traditional kabuki theater and American pop music.[2] Later, in one of her appearances on The Merv Griffin Show, she treated viewers to her impression of singer Billy Eckstine, one of her American favorites growing up.

    Career

    Umeki in a publicity photo for Sayonara (1957)

    She was best known for her Oscar-winning role as Katsumi in the film Sayonara (1957), as well as Mei Li in the Broadway musical and 1961 film Flower Drum Song, and Mrs. Livingston in the television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. She was a shin Issei, or post-1945 immigrant from Japan.

    She recorded for RCA Victor Japan from 1950 to 1954 and appeared in the film Seishun Jazu Musume.[2] She recorded mostly American jazz standards, which she sang partially in Japanese and partially in English, or solely in either language. Some of the songs she sang during this period were "It Isn't Fair", "Sentimental Me", "My Foolish Heart", "With A Song In My Heart", "Again", "Vaya con Dios", "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" and "I'll Walk Alone". She moved to the United States in 1955.[2][5] After appearing 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.[2] Her appearances on Godfrey's program brought her to the attention of director Joshua Logan, who cast her in Sayonara for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was the first Asian to win an Academy Award for acting.[3]

    In 1958, she appeared twice on the variety show The Gisele MacKenzie Show in which she performed "How Deep Is the Ocean". In 1958, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance in the Broadway premiere production of the musical Flower Drum Song,[3] where she played Mei-Li.[6] The show ran for two years. A cover story in Time stated "the warmth of her art works a kind of tranquil magic".[2] Umeki appeared in the film adaptation of the musical.[5] She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Flower Drum Song. Although a guest on many television variety shows, she appeared in only four more movies through 1962, including the film version of Flower Drum Song (1961). The others were Cry for Happy (1961), The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962) and A Girl Named Tamiko (1963). From 1969 to 1972, she appeared in The Courtship of Eddie's Father as Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She retired from acting following the end of the series.[7]

    Personal life and death

    Her first marriage, to television director Frederick Winfield "Wynn" Opie in 1958, ended in divorce in 1967.[1][2] The couple had one son — Michael H. Opie, born in 1964.[2] She married Randall Firevod Hood in 1968, and he adopted her son, changing the boy’s name to Michael Randall Hood (February 11, 1964 – August 27, 2018).[8] The couple operated a Los Angeles–based business renting editing equipment to film studios and university film programs.[2] Randall Hood died in 1976.[3] Her son, Michael Hood, was a police sergeant.[9]

    According to Umeki's son (who died 11 years after his mother),[10] Umeki lived in Sherman Oaks, California for a number of years, then moved to Licking, Missouri to be near her son and his family, which included three grandchildren. Known as Miyoshi Hood, she died there on August 28, 2007, aged 78, from cancer.[5]

    Discography

    RCA Victor Japan (1950–1954)

    During her recording career in Japan, Miyoshi recorded the following songs:

    Two other Japanese language songs were recorded in 1952.

    Singles on Mercury Records (1955–1959)

    She signed with Mercury Records in 1955 and recorded the following 45 rpm singles:

    • "How Deep Is the Ocean/Why Talk" (1955)[11]
    • "The Little Lost Dog/The Story You're About to Hear Is True" (1956)[11]
    • "The Mountain Beyond the Moon/Oh What Good Company We Could Be" (with Red Buttons) (1957)
    • "Sayonara (The Japanese Farewell Song)/Be Sweet Tonight" (1957)
    • "Sayonara/On and On" (1957)

    Miyoshi recorded a version of "Pick Yourself Up" for Mercury Records in 1959, but the song was never released.

    Albums on Mercury Records

    Miyoshi Sings For Arthur Godfrey (MG-20165) (1956)[11]
    Tracks:

    Miyoshi (album) (MG-20568) (1959)
    Tracks:

    Miyoshi – Singing Star of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (MGW-12148) (1958) (reissue of the Arthur Godfrey album with some tracks replaced)
    Tracks:

    Film themes

    Miyoshi Umeki recorded two theme songs for films in which she appeared:

    Cast recordings

    Flower Drum Song (Broadway Original Cast; 1958), Sony Records
    Flower Drum Song (Film Soundtrack; 1961), Decca Records

    Tracks by Miyoshi Umeki:

    • "A Hundred Million Miracles"
    • "I Am Going to Like It Here"
    • "Don't Marry Me"
    • "Wedding Parade/A Hundred Million Miracles"

    Filmography

    Film
    Year Title Role Notes
    1953 Seishun Jazz musume (青春ジャズ娘 Seishun jazu musume) Kashu (歌手, "singer" in Japanese)
    1956 Around the World Revue Nancy Umeki Also known as Universal Musical Short 2655: Around the World Revue
    1957 Sayonara Katsumi
    1961 Cry for Happy Harue
    1961 Flower Drum Song Mei Li Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
    1962 The Horizontal Lieutenant Akiko
    1962 A Girl Named Tamiko Eiko

    Television

    Television
    Year Title Role Notes
    1955 Arthur Godfrey and His Friends Herself Regular performer
    1957 The Perry Como Show Herself 1 episode
    1958–1961 The Dinah Shore Chevy Show Herself episode #2.32 (1958)
    episode #4.16 (1960)
    episode #5.17
    1958 What's My Line? Herself – Mystery Guest episode #414 (dated 11 May 1958)
    1958 The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show Herself episode #2.25
    1958 Bing Crosby's White Christmas: All-Star Show Herself episode: "It Might as Well Be Spring"
    1959 The Chevy Showroom Starring Andy Williams Herself episode #2.2
    1959 Toast of the Town Singer
    1961 Here's Hollywood Herself episode dated 27 December 1961
    1961–1962 The Donna Reed Show Kimi 2 episodes: "The Geisha Girl" (1961) and "Aloha, Kimi" (1962)
    1962 The Andy Williams Show Herself episode dated 11 October 1962
    episode dated 13 December 1962
    1962 Hallmark Hall of Fame Lotus-Blossom episode: "The Teahouse of the August Moon"
    1962 Sam Benedict Sumiko Matsui episode: "Tears for a Nobody Doll"
    1963 Rawhide Nami episode: "Incident of the Geisha"
    1963 Dr. Kildare Hana Shigera episode: "One Clear Bright Thursday Morning"
    1964 Burke's Law Mary 'Lotus Bud' Ling episode: "Who Killed the Paper Dragon?"
    1964 The Virginian Kim Ho episode: "Smile of a Dragon"
    1964 Mister Ed Ako Tenaka episode: "Ed in the Peace Corps"
    1964 The Celebrity Game Herself episode dated April 19, 1964
    1969 The Queen and I Japanese Bride episode: "The Trousseau"
    1969–1972 The Courtship of Eddie's Father Mrs. Livingston
    1971 This Is Your Life Herself For Bill Bixby
    1971 The Pet Set Herself episode dated June 30, 1971
    1971 The Merv Griffin Show Herself episode dated March 29, 1971
    1972 Salute to Oscar Hammerstein II Herself

    Awards and nominations

    Year Award Category Film Result
    1958 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress Sayonara Won
    1958 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated
    1962 Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Flower Drum Song Nominated
    1970 Best Supporting Actress – Television The Courtship of Eddie's Father Nominated
    1959 Tony Awards Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Flower Drum Song Nominated

    References

    1. 1 2 Obituary: Miyoshi Umeki, independent.co.uk. Accessed November 13, 2023.
    2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bernstein, Adam. "Actress Miyoshi Umeki, 78, Dies of Cancer". The Washington Post. 5 September 2007.
    3. 1 2 3 4 "Oscar winner Miyoshi Umeki dies at 78". USA Today. Associated Press. 5 September 2007.
    4. 1 2 "A Single Heart Can Transform a Nation". Google Arts & Culture. Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. May 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
    5. 1 2 3 4 Lavietes, Stuart (September 6, 2007). "Miyoshi Umeki, 78, Actress Who Won an Oscar in '57, Dies". The New York Times. p. B7.
    6. ↑ Miyoshi Umeki at the Internet Broadway Database
    7. ↑ Li, Shirley (2018-02-22). "Why did Miyoshi Umeki, the only Asian actress to ever win an Oscar, destroy her trophy?". Entertainment Weekly.
    8. ↑ "Miyoshi Umeki, first Asian to win an Oscar, dies". Agence France-Presse. September 6, 2007. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011.
    9. ↑ "Sgt. Michael Randall Hood obituary". Fox Funeral Home. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
    10. ↑ Obituary: Michael Randall Hood, foxfh.net. Accessed November 13, 2023.
    11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Miyoshi Umeki". The Official Masterworks Broadway Site. Retrieved 2022-12-25.
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