Miiko Taka

(July 24, 1925 – January 4, 2023), known professionally as , was an American actress. She was known for her film and television roles from the late 1950s until the early 1980s. Her best known role was as an elegant Japanese dancer starring with Marlon Brando in the romantic drama Sayonara. as a Nisei; her parents had immigrated from Japan. In 1942, following the signing of Executive Order 9066, she was interned with her family at the Gila River War Relocation Center in Arizona.

Career After Audrey Hepburn, director Joshua Logan's first choice for the role of Hana-ogi, turned him down, he looked to cast an unknown actress. Warner Bros. gave her a term contract as a result of her performance in Sayonara.

After Sayonara, she worked in films with James Garner, Bob Hope, Cary Grant, Glenn Ford, Miyoshi Umeki and Toshirō Mifune (alongside whom she also worked in the 1980 television miniseries Shõgun). She also served as an interpreter for Mifune and Akira Kurosawa when they visited Hollywood.

Personal life Taka married Japanese-American actor Dale Ishimoto in Baltimore, Maryland in 1944, and they had one son, Greg Shikata, who works in the film industry, and one daughter. They divorced in 1958.

Taka married Los Angeles television news director Lennie Blondheim in 1963. She resided in Las Vegas, Nevada. Following Blondheim's death in 2002, she married Reginald Hsu in 2003.

Death Taka died on January 4, 2023, at the age of 97. She is interred at Rose Hills Memorial Park.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1957 Sayonara Hana-ogi 1958 Panda and the Magic Serpent Fish Spirit (voice) English dub 1960 Hell to Eternity Ester 1961 Cry for Happy Chiyoko 1961 Operation Bottleneck Ari 1963 A Global Affair Fumiko 1965 The Art of Love Chou Chou 1966 Walk, Don't Run Aiko Kurawa 1968 The Power Mrs. Van Zandt 1973 Lost Horizon Nurse 1975 Paper Tiger Madame Kagoyama 1976 Midway TV version only, uncredited 1978 The Big Fix Saleswoman 1982 The Challenge Yoshida's wife

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