Miyoshi Umeki

Miyoshi Umeki (1929–2007) was a Japanese-American actress and singer. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Sayonara (1957), becoming the first Asian performer to win an acting Oscar.

Sayonara: A 1957 film about American servicemen and Japanese women in postwar Japan. Umeki won her Academy Award for playing Katsumi, a Japanese woman who marries an American airman.
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress: An annual Academy Award honoring an actress's performance in a supporting role in a film. Umeki received the award for Sayonara at the 30th Academy Awards in 1958.
Joshua Logan: An American theatre and film director known for South Pacific, Picnic, and Sayonara. Logan directed Sayonara, the film for which Umeki won her Academy Award.
Otaru: A port city in Hokkaido, Japan, on the Sea of Japan. Umeki was born and raised in Otaru before beginning her entertainment career.
Flower Drum Song: A Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about Chinese American life in San Francisco. Umeki played Mei Li in the Broadway production and its 1961 film adaptation.
Asian Americans in film: The history and representation of people of Asian descent in American cinema. Her Oscar win brought rare national recognition to an Asian performer in Hollywood.
Marlon Brando: An American actor whose film roles include A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. Brando starred opposite Umeki in Sayonara as the American airman Lloyd Gruver.
Hokkaido: Japan's northernmost main island and its largest prefecture. Otaru, Umeki's birthplace, lies on Hokkaido.
The Courtship of Eddie's Father: An American television sitcom about a widowed father raising his son. Umeki played the housekeeper Mrs. Livingston throughout the series.
Asian representation in Hollywood: The depiction and participation of people of Asian descent in the American film industry. Umeki's success stood out in an industry that offered Asian actors few prominent roles.

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Academy Honorary AwardRelated: Her career helps show how Academy honors intersect with recognition of international performers.