"He just happens to be blessed with this look. "It must be extremely difficult for him to continue to play "the kid.' To some degree, I don't know if I'd like to be in the same position. He has a focus on where he would like to go in this business. and I'm only making reference to an off-screen persona. "That is a very important ingredient in our movie, because as any parent must, they have to give their offspring room to grow, to make their own mistakes, to try and stretch out into the worldly decision-making process.Īlso starring in "The Karate Kid, Part III" is Ralph Macchio, who reprised his role as Daniel. strong parental figures which is a factor at least by my observation, it seems to be diminishing in our society, although it is coming back in spite of all the differentiations in that family mode Miyagi kind of sets an example. ![]() Those of us fortunate enough to have had strong father. "For a lot of us, he's also a father figure. "Even though the movie audience may accept the fact that he's a ficticious character, he does reflect standards that aren't exemplified too much any more. "My feeling is that, at some point in our lives, we would all kind of like to have a guy like this. They know now that he's a very rock-solid, stable, high-standard, movivated kind of individual. "That's an interesting question," Morita said. So, what is the continuing appeal of the Miyagi character? "Those challenges always exist for the actor, no matter what kind of role he plays, whether it's a continuing one or whether it's an original piece." "I think that in itself is always a stretch for an actor, especially since Miyagi is such a departure from Pat Morita personally." The only challenge always for me is to hope that I can maintain all his qualities. "I really know the character so well, and he's such a second-nature kind of guy for me to do," Morita said. Miyagi in each of the highly successful films. "The Karate Kid, Part III" opened June 30 in theaters across the nation. "I don't recall if indeed my father or my uncles or that generation of Japanese person in America had the kind of comedic responses that Miyagi has or funny bone. "I'd like to think that certainly Miyagi's funny bone is Pat Morita," said the Japanese-American actor who just turned 59. Miyagi are as different as night and day. In reality, actor Noriyuki "Pat" Morita and Mr. He’s survived by his wife Evelyn and his three daughters Tia, Aly, and Erin.DALLAS In person, he looks like Mr. You will see Pat onscreen.” Morita’s memorial service was held at the Palm Mortuary & Memorial Park in Las Vegas, Nevada. ![]() If you’re really familiar with Karate Kid, you’re going to see things from 1984 that you’ve never seen before. Miyagi,” Macchio added. “We were able to find some interesting angles and interesting shots. The heart and soul of the Karate Kid universe are the teachings of Mr. “We’re not here without Pat Morita’s performance in that film. ![]() “We didn’t want the human element of the show to get lost, and that human element really stems from Mr. “It was important to me that Pat’s legacy was not lost, even though the whole concept was about the rivalry between Daniel and Johnny Lawrence,” he said. Ralph Macchio told the Hollywood Reporter that it was very important to him that they honor the character’s memory. There are several references to Miyagi in Cobra Kai, the YouTube series that doubles as a sequel to the original franchise. _ #thekaratekid #daniellarusso #ralphmacchio #mrmiyagi #patmoritaĪ post shared by -? on at 5:59pm PDT Morita Was Nominated for an Oscar & a Golden Globe for Playing Mr. Miyagi in three sequels, each of which were successful at the box office. For his performance, Morita was nominated for the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985. “When Jerry saw it, he said, ‘That’s what I want-a goddamn actor,’ not realizing it was Pat,” Evelyn revealed. The film’s producer, Jerry Weintraub, felt that the actor was too well known as Arnold from Happy Days, and viewers wouldn’t be able to take him seriously.ĭetermined to get the part, however, Morita grew a beard and adopted an accent for later auditions, and was so effective that Weintraub didn’t even recognize him. When Morita first auditioned for the part of Mr. His success led to guest spots on variety shows like Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and sitcoms like M*A*S*H and Sanford and Son, before he landed a recurring role on Happy Days. Morita, born Noriyuki Morita, started doing stand-up comedy in the 1960s. ![]() Miyagi in The Karate Kid See the full interview at /interviews/people/pat-morita T18:34:20.000Z
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