Actor. Born Makoto Iwamatsu in Kobe, Japan, he came to the United States after World War II and studied theater at the Pasadena Playhouse. He had been working primarily in television and on stage when he was cast as 'Po-Han' in the film "The Sand Pebbles" (1966), which earned him an Oscar nomination. In 1976 Mako appeared in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Pacific Overtures," playing multiple roles as reciter, shogun, emperor and an American businessman. This performance won him a Tony Award nomination for best actor in a musical. He was the founder of East West Players, where he trained generations of actors and playwrights and opened the door for many Asian American actors. The East West Players have been honored with the Margaret Harford Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's most prestigious prize. Mako staged classics such as William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters," and lesser-known contemporary works. He devoted his company's entire 1981 season to works pertaining to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. His TV roles included appearances on "McHale's Navy," "I Spy," "MASH," "Quincy, M. E." and "Walker, Texas Ranger", and in films he played Akiro the Wizard in "Conan the Barbarian" (1982) and "Conan the Destroyer" (1984), a Singaporean in "Seven Years in Tibet" (1997), and Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in "Pearl Harbor" (2001). He died in Somis, California.
Actor. Born Makoto Iwamatsu in Kobe, Japan, he came to the United States after World War II and studied theater at the Pasadena Playhouse. He had been working primarily in television and on stage when he was cast as 'Po-Han' in the film "The Sand Pebbles" (1966), which earned him an Oscar nomination. In 1976 Mako appeared in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Pacific Overtures," playing multiple roles as reciter, shogun, emperor and an American businessman. This performance won him a Tony Award nomination for best actor in a musical. He was the founder of East West Players, where he trained generations of actors and playwrights and opened the door for many Asian American actors. The East West Players have been honored with the Margaret Harford Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's most prestigious prize. Mako staged classics such as William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters," and lesser-known contemporary works. He devoted his company's entire 1981 season to works pertaining to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. His TV roles included appearances on "McHale's Navy," "I Spy," "MASH," "Quincy, M. E." and "Walker, Texas Ranger", and in films he played Akiro the Wizard in "Conan the Barbarian" (1982) and "Conan the Destroyer" (1984), a Singaporean in "Seven Years in Tibet" (1997), and Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in "Pearl Harbor" (2001). He died in Somis, California.
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