Gedde Watanabe

Gary "Gedde" Watanabe (; born June 26, 1955) is an American actor. He is known for voicing the character of Ling in the animated film Mulan and its sequel Mulan II (2004), as well as playing Long Duk Dong in the film Sixteen Candles (1984), Takahara "Kaz" Kazihiro in Gung Ho (1986), and Nurse Yosh Takata in the NBC medical drama ER from 1997 to 2003. He was also an original cast member of the Stephen Sondheim musical Pacific Overtures.

Early life and education Watanabe was born and raised in Ogden, Utah, in a Japanese-American family. His mother worked as a seamstress at the Utah Tailoring Company. He performed in several dramatic productions in high school, both acting and singing. After graduation, Watanabe relocated to San Francisco, where he worked as a street musician while honing his acting skills.

Career In 1976, Watanabe's first role was as a member of the original Broadway cast of Pacific Overtures, originating the roles of Priest, Girl, and The Boy. He has since appeared in a number of films and television series, the first of which was The Long Island Four in 1980.

Many of his roles are caricatured East Asians with heavy accents, though he himself does not speak Japanese.

Watanabe became well known for his role as Long Duk Dong in the film Sixteen Candles (1984). He had a starring role in both the film Gung Ho (1986)

It was not until receiving his role in the 2020 web series The Disappointments that Watanabe spoke of his life as a gay man on the record in a conversation with Disappointments co-stars Trevor LaPaglia and Rich Burns.

Television

Video games

Stage