Dale Ishimoto Biography
Dale Ishimoto (April 3, 1923 – March 4, 2004) was an American actor of *anese descent. He was born in Delta, Colorado in 1923 and was raised in Guadalupe, California.
Military service
After being sent to the Gila River internment camp in Arizona, Ishimoto volunteered to fight in World War II, joining the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. After two years, he was awarded a Purple Heart and given a medical discharge.
Entertainment career
After starting a business in Chicago, he moved back to California, where he grew up, and started his acting career by acting at the Altadena Playhouse. He became a "familiar figure" for playing "villainous *anese soldiers".
Over the course of his career, he acted in a wide variety of movies, such as a *anese army captain in Beach Red (1967), a Korean doctor in MASH (1970), a karate instructor in Superchick (1973), and as Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya in Midway (1976).
He became known in the late 1990s for his appearances in television commercials for Nissan in which he portrayed Yutaka Katayama, the company's former president. He also appeared in one episode of Wanted: Dead or Alive.
Personal life
Ishimoto married Miiko Taka in Baltimore in 1944, and they had two children: a son and a daughter. They divorced in 1958.
Filmography
- The King and I (1956) - Crewman (uncredited)
- Tokyo After Dark (1959) - Reporter (uncredited)
- Battle of the Coral Sea (1959) - *anese Guard (uncredited)
- Never So Few (1959) - Scout (uncredited)
- The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960) - *anese Pilot (uncredited)
- The Great Impostor (1961) - Korean Soldier (uncredited)
- Operation Bottleneck (1961) - Matsu
- Battle at Bloody Beach (1961) - Blanco
- A Majority of One (1961) - Taxi Driver (uncredited)
- Sea Hunt (1961) - Season 4, Episode 17
- The Nun and the Sergeant (1962) - Pak
- PT 109 (1963) - Commander (uncredited)
- McHale's Navy (1964) - *anese Captain
- Moro Witch Doctor (1964) - Manuel Romblon
- King Rat (1965) - Yoshima
- Walk, Don't Run (1966) - Plainclothesman (uncredited)
- The Sweet and the Bitter (1967) - Dick Kazanami
- Beach Red (1967) - Captain Tanaka
- MASH (1970) - Korean Doctor (uncredited)
- The Games (1970) - *anese Doctor
- Superchick (1973) - Karate Instructor
- When the North Wind Blows (1974) - Yermak
- Sharks' Treasure (1975) - Ishi
- Midway (1976) - Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya
- Enter the Ninja (1981) - Komori
- Cracking Up (1983) - *anese Mechanic
- Cannonball Run II (1984) - *anese Businessman (uncredited)
- Ninja III: The Domination (1984) - Okuda
- Come See the Paradise (1990) - Mr. Ogata
- Beverly Hills Ninja (1997) - Old *anese Man
- Inconceivable (1998) - Mr. Akiyama (final film role)
Selected television
References
External links
- Dale Ishimoto at IMDb
