James Yoshio Yoda (March 31, 1934 – January 13, 2023) was a Japanese-born American actor and businessman who played Takeo Fujiwara in the American television series ''

McHale's Navy ''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network. The series was filmed i ...

''.

Early life

Yoda was born on March 31, 1934, in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the only son of a family of manufacturers. After Yoda graduated high school, he enrolled at

Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...

to study law. During this period, Yoda met Edward Ugast, then general manager in East Asia of

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. Ugast encouraged Yoda to pursue a career in acting. Yoda abandoned his studies and immigrated to the United States, whereupon he enrolled at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in August 1958 with aspirations of becoming a film producer. In summer 1961, William White, a USC faculty member, received a call from

Joe Pasternak Joseph Herman Pasternak (born József Paszternák; September 19, 1901 – September 13, 1991) was a Hungarian-American film producer in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Pasternak spent the Hollywood Musical film, "Golden Age" of musicals ...

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

seeking a young man who could speak English and Japanese. White contacted Yoda, who was then put in touch with MGM's casting office. After a series of interviews, Yoda was cast in the part of Sgt. Roy Tada in '' The Horizontal Lieutenant''. Yoda's success in that role led him to be cast as

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

Seaman 3rd Class Fujiwara "Fuji" Takeo Kobiashi in the American television series ''

''. He was recast in the role in the later feature-length films ''

'' and '' McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force''. Yoda continued attending school while acting, eventually earning a degree in cinema arts.

Later career

After ''McHale's Navy'' ended in 1966, Yoda acted in the 1969 segment of '' Love American Style'' titled "Love and the Letter." He was associate producer for "The Walking Major", which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1971. In the cast reunion extra feature on the ''McHale's Navy'' first season DVD set, Edson Stroll (Virgil in the series) stated that Yoda began primarily using his middle name of James and worked as a

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

vice-president. He also reported that Yoda had secured his American citizenship. Yoda had lived in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

for fifteen years, serving as assistant vice president of inventory for Toyota in Hawaii, where he had become a United States citizen and was active in the

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

. From 2012 until his death, Yoda lived in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and S ...

Personal life

Yoda announced that he was to wed Yoko Okazaki, a Japanese fashion model, in June 1964. In 1965, Yoda headed the panel of judges that chose the Nisei Week Festival Queen at the Biltmore Hotel in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Yoda died in

, on January 13, 2023, at the age of 88.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoda, Yoshio 1934 births 2023 deaths Japanese male television actors Male actors from Tokyo People from Fullerton, California USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Keio University alumni Japanese business executives Toyota people Japanese emigrants to the United States American male actors of Japanese descent Naturalized citizens of the United States 20th-century Japanese male actors