He sang: Jamaican Hussy, Orchids and Moonlight, Love Letters in the Sand, and Dream of Chrysanthemums. In 1958, he toured Australia in another ensemble revue, The Cherry Blossom Show. He sang Puerto Rican Hussy, Cuban in Me, Love Letters in the Sand, and Dream of Chrysanthemums. Shigeta sang Enchanted Waltz from the Red and White Song Battle show.Īt the famous Nichigeki (Nippon Theater) in Tokyo, Shigeta appeared as the lead singer in an ensemble revue, Autumn Dance. His Japanese version of Love Letters In The Sand, a classic, became a top hit in 1957. Toho Company, the top Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company, nicknamed Shigeta the Frank Sinatra of Japan. Toho Company hired him to sing on their studio radio and television shows, theater stage shows, and to record songs. Japanese StarĪfter his discharge, Shigeta appeared in Japan from 1954 to 1959. In 1954, the US Marine Corps discharged Shigeta as a Sergeant. During his service, he entertained the troops. He trained at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton at Oceanside, California. In late 1951, the US Marine Corps drafted Shigeta amidst the Korean War. James Shigeta serving as a Marine during the Korean War. Night clubbers saw them at Flamingo in Las Vegas and Palmer House in Chicago. They debuted at Mocambo on Sunset in Hollywood. Due to racial sensibility, they became known as CHARLES DURAND (Davis) and GUY BRION (Shigeta), They sang on the supper club circuit across the USA. In 1951, Shigeta teamed with Charles Keonaonalaulani Llewellyn Davis, a native Hawaiian operatic tenor. They contracted all personnel, including actors, crew, directors, and writers. They controlled all aspects of their film productions. The Big Five studios in Hollywood were: Warner Brothers, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, and RKO Pictures. He appeared on radio, television, and stage shows. He auditioned for screen tests but never landed a role in the films at that time. He then went to Hollywood as a contract actor for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM).
He sang Night and Day and won the grand prize of $2,000. In June 1950, at New York City’s Madison Garden, James Shigeta competed in Ted Mack’s The Original Amateur Hour on American Broadcasting Company television. He soloed with classics at Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and with pops at Honolulu Pops Orchestra, with his baritone vocal. He played on stage with Honolulu Theater. During his formative years, he sang in the Capella choir while learning the arts of acting and singing. Shigeta attended the University of Hawaii, the University of Southern California, and New York University majoring in English. He participated with Civitas Romana, Les Causeurs Cadets, Chevrons Club, and Track. His famous grandson attended President Roosevelt High School in Honolulu at Makiki’s Kalāwahine Valley. He arrived aboard Taksago Maru steamship in the Kingdom of Hawaii on June 12, 1888, from Oshima, an island town of Yamaguchi Prefecture, imperial Japan… He worked as a laborer at a cane sugar plantation.
He finished his career as a plumber working in Honolulu.ĭenkichi Shigeta, grandfather, an Issei (first-generation Japanese American), was born about 1862. Then, he served as a US Army private during World War I. His father, born on January 31, 1896, at Hana on the island of Maui, worked as a laborer on a cane sugar plantation. Howard Koichi Shigeta, his father, and Satoko Shigeta, his mother, raised him. Hawaiiīorn in Honolulu, on June 17, 1929, Shigeta, a third-generation Japanese American or Sansei, had five siblings. James, you will be missed but will live on in the wonderful legacy you have left the world.” mused the late Jeff Adachi, director of THE SLANTED SCREEN documentary.īefore the advent of sound film, the world knew Sessue Hayakawa, the Japanese actor, as the Asian heartthrob of Hollywood during the silent film era. He had a great voice and was an incredible singer.
James Shigeta was one of his era’s most handsome, talented, classy, and dignified actors. Colleagues, friends, and relatives knew Shigeta as warm and kind but also very shy, despite his Hollywood fame. Fans remembered his masculine presence and baritone vocals. James Borges, the legendary Hawaiian jazz vocalist, said Jimmy was more than just a handsome Japanese man with a great voice Jimmy opened the door for people of color. For a brief eon, 1959 to 1961, his Hollywood star shined on the silver screen under the fading studio system. He played the romantic lead actor Wang Ta in Flower Drum Song. James Saburo Shigeta became Hollywood’s pioneer Asian American heartthrob during the late 20th century. By Raymond Douglas Chong, AsAmNews Writer
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