Jack Soo
Jack Soo | |
---|---|
Born | Goro Suzuki October 28, 1917 At sea; Pacific Ocean |
Died | January 11, 1979 Los Angeles, California, United States | (aged 61)
Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
Nationality |
|
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
Occupation(s) | Actor, singer |
Years active | 1958–1979 |
Spouse | Jan Zdelar (1945-1979, his death) [1] |
Jack Soo (born Goro Suzuki, October 28, 1917 – January 11, 1979) was an American actor and singer. He was best known for his role as Detective Nick Yemana on the television sitcom Barney Miller.
Early life
Jack Soo was born Goro Suzuki on a ship travelling in the Pacific Ocean from the United States to Japan on October 28, 1917. His parents lived in Oakland, California, and they decided that as he was the oldest boy, they wanted to have him born in Japan.[2] He graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English.[2] He lived in Oakland until ordered into internment along with other Japanese Americans during World War II and the signing of Executive Order 9066. He was sent to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah.[3] His fellow internees recalled him as a "camp favourite," an entertainer singing at dances and numerous events.[2]
Soo's career as an entertainer began in earnest at the end of the war, first as a stand-up nightclub performer primarily in the Midwestern United States. He changed his name to Jack Soo while working at a Chinese night club called Chin's in Cleveland to avoid prejudice against him as a Japanese-American.[2][1][4]
During his years playing the nightclub circuit, he met and became friends with future Barney Miller producer Danny Arnold, who was also a performer at the time.[5]
Career
Soo finally earned his big break in 1958 when he was cast in the
Soo was first broadcast across America by
Soo joined
Personal life
Soo was married to Jean Zdelar, a model, in 1945. The couple had three children: Jayne, Richard, and James.[1]
Death
Soo, a smoker, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer during Barney Miller's fourth season (1977–1978), missing the last five episodes. He returned for the opening of season five, but the cancer spread quickly, and Soo died on January 11, 1979, at age 61, at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center (now the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center).[12] His last appearance on the show was in the episode entitled "The Vandal", which aired on November 9, 1978,[citation needed] delivering the episode's final line, "...I have nothing to add."
A running joke on the show was that Yemana made bad coffee.[13] "It must have been my coffee," Soo joked when he was being wheeled into surgery.[12] A retrospective episode showing clips of Soo aired on the last episode of season 5. The episode included castmates as themselves, giving personal memories of Soo, the actor. It concluded with all raising their coffee cups in a final farewell toast to him.
Filmography
Film | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1961 | Flower Drum Song | Samuel Adams 'Sammy' Fong | |
1963 | Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? | Yoshimi Hiroti | |
1966 | The Oscar | Sam | |
1967 | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Ching Ho / Oriental No. 1 | |
1968 | The Green Berets | Col. Cai | |
1978 | Return from Witch Mountain | Mr. "Yo-Yo" Yokomoto | |
Television | |||
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1962 | The Jack Benny Program | Himself | Episode: Jack Meets a Japanese Agent |
1964 | Valentine's Day | Rockwell 'Rocky' Sin | Main cast (34 episodes) |
1965 | The Wackiest Ship in the Army | Shiru | Episode: Shakedown |
1966 | Summer Fun | Sidney | Episode: Pirates of Flounder Bay |
1968–1971 | Julia | Tree Man Judge Warren wazaku |
Episode: I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas Episode: Courting Time |
1969 | The Monk | Hip Guy | ABC TV-Movie |
1970 | Hawaii Five-O | Sam Quong | Episode: The One with the Gun
|
1971 | The Name of the Game | Sergeant George Kwan | Episode: The Man Who Killed a Ghost |
The Jimmy Stewart Show | Woodrow Yamada | Episode: Pro Bono Publico Episode: Cockadoodle Don't | |
1972 | The Odd Couple | Chuk Mai Chin | Episode: Oscar's Promotion |
1972–1975 | M*A*S*H | Charlie Lee Quoc |
Episode: To Market, to Market Episode: Payday |
1973 | She Lives! | Dr. Osikawa | ABC TV-Movie |
1974 | Ironside | Joe Lee Joe Lee Sing-Ho |
Episode: Amy Prentiss (1) Episode: Amy Prentiss (2) Episode: The Over-the-Hill Blues |
1974–1975 | Police Story | Tai'ske Bruce Chan Bruce Chan |
Episode: The Hunters Episode: Year of the Dragon (1) Episode: Year of the Dragon (2) |
1975 | Police Woman | Red Star | Episode: The Bloody Nose |
1975–1979 | Barney Miller | Detective Sergeant Nick Yemana | Main cast (101 episodes), (final appearance) |
1977 | Busting Loose | Hoofat | Episode: House of Noodles |
References
- ^ ProQuest 147102307.
- ^ a b c d e f Guillen, Michael (8 March 2009). "SFIAAFF 2009: You Don't Know Jack (The Jack Soo Story) — Interview With Jeff Adachi". Screenanarchy. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ Niiya, Brian. "Densho Encyclopedia: Jack Soo". encyclopedia.densho.org. Densho. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
- ^ "'YOU DON'T KNOW JACK: THE JACK SOO STORY' TO BE SCREENED JULY 31 | Japanese American National Museum". www.janm.org. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ "Yahoo TV". yahoo.com. Retrieved 19 Sep 2015.
- Universal Pictures, 2006.
- ProQuest 141355554.
- ^ "'The Jack Benny Program' Jack Meets Japanese Agent (TV Episode 1962)". imdb.com. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
- ^ "Year of Snake? Ah So! Orientals Mark Season's TV". Desert Sun. UPI. 7 January 1965. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- ^ Lom, Michael (November 2, 2011). "'More Stories from Jeff Adachi' on Asian Pacific Arts". asiapacificarts.usc.edu. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ "PBS: You Don't Know Jack Soo". pbs.org. Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on July 2, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2016 – via web.archive.org.
- ^ a b "Jack Soo, 63, Actor in 'Barney Miller' – He Was Sgt. Yemana in Television Series – Appeared in Movies". The New York Times. United Press International. January 13, 1979. p. 19. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- ^ In one episode, Yemena claimed that he used rainwater that dripped through the ceiling of the station house, which "filters out the impurities". (Ron Glass can be seen in the background of the scene, breaking up.)