Jack Soo

Jack Soo

Jack Soo in 1975.
Born Goro Suzuki
(1917-10-28)October 28, 1917
Pacific Ocean (see below) raised in Oakland, California,
United States
Died January 11, 1979(1979-01-11) (aged 61)
Los Angeles, California,
United States
Spouse(s) Jan Zdelar[1]

Jack Soo (October 28, 1917 – January 11, 1979) was a Japanese American actor. He is best known for his role as Detective Nick Yemana on the television sitcom Barney Miller.

Biography

Early life

Jack Soo was born Goro Suzuki on a ship traveling from Japan to the United States in 1917. He lived in Oakland, California, until ordered into Japanese American internment during World War II. He was sent to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah;[2] and fellow internees recalled him as a "camp favorite", an entertainer singing at dances and numerous events.[3]

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 Soo after working at a Chinese night club.[1] 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.[4]

Career

Jack Soo and Nancy Kwan in Flower Drum Song.

Soo finally earned his big break in 1958 when he was cast in the Broadway musical hit Flower Drum Song in the role of the show M.C. and comedian Frankie Wing ("Gliding through my memoree"). He was working in San Francisco at the Forbidden City, a Chinese nightclub and cabaret, which was portrayed in the musical and movie. He was offered the chance to go to Broadway on the condition that he change his name to something Chinese, as Flower Drum Song is set in San Francisco's Chinatown. At that time, he adopted the surname that he had used to leave the internment camp at Topaz, "Soo."[5] Jack switched to the Sammy Fong role[6] (Chinatown's "Nathan Detroit") during the run and played the role when the film version (1961) of the musical was made.

Soo was first broadcast across America by Jack Benny on November 27, 1962, as the street-wise talent agent in "Jack Meets Japanese Agent".[7] In 1964, Soo played an important weekly supporting role as a poker-playing con artist in Valentine's Day, a one-season comedy television series starring Tony Franciosa. During the next decade, he would appear in films such The Green Berets as an ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) Colonel and the 1967 musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as making guest appearances on TV shows such as Hawaii Five-O, The Odd Couple, and two episodes of M*A*S*H.

Soo joined Motown Records in 1965 as one of their first non-African American artists. During his time there, he recorded a slow ballad version of "For Once in My Life" as the first male singer to do so. The record was never released and was shelved in the Motown archives. The song was soon after made famous by Stevie Wonder.[3][8]

Soo was cast in his most memorable role in 1975 on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller as the laid-back, but very wry, Detective Nick Yemana, who was responsible for making the dreadful coffee the entire precinct had the misfortune to drink every day.

Soo refused to play roles that were demeaning to Asian Americans and often spoke out against negative ethnic portrayals.[9]

Personal life

Soo was married to Jan Zdelar, a model. The couple had three children and two grandchildren.[1]

Death

Jack Soo (far right) with the Barney Miller cast.

Soo was diagnosed with esophageal cancer during Barney Miller's fifth season (1978–79). The cancer spread quickly, and Soo died on January 11, 1979, at age 61, at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center.[10] His last appearance on the show was in the episode entitled "The Vandal," which aired on November 9, 1978.

Because his character (and Soo himself) was so beloved, producers created a special retrospective episode showing clips of his best moments, which aired at the end of the season. The most poignant moment of the show came at the end, when the cast members raised their coffee cups in a final farewell toast to the late actor.

Soo's last words (and the last words in the episode "The Vandal") came after being given a truly thankless chore by Captain Miller (which Nick always seemed to be the beneficiary of in the series), Barney senses Nick's desire to complain and invites him to do so. On the wall, in the background during the entire episode is a spray-painted obscenity aimed at Captain Miller courtesy of the vandal (and which everyone feels the need to comment on during the episode). Nick, having been given the open invitation by Barney for a retort, glances at the obscenity on the wall and then simply says to Barney: "I have nothing to add".[11]

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Other 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 Asian No. 1
1968 The Green Berets Col. Cai
1978 Return from Witch Mountain Mr. Yokomoto
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1962 The Jack Benny Program Himself Episode: Jack Meets a Japanese Agent
1964 Valentine's Day Rockwell Sin
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 (Last appearance)
1977 Busting Loose Hoofat Episode: House of Noodles[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jack Soo, Acted Detective in TV Series". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Fred Ryan. 12 Jan 1979. p. C6. Retrieved 5 Apr 2016. (registration required (help)).
  2. ↑ "Jack Soo". nndb.com. Retrieved 19 Sep 2015.
  3. 1 2 Adachi, Jeff (2009). "The Jack Soo Story". You Don’t Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story. Retrieved 5 Apr 2016.
  4. ↑ "Yahoo TV". yahoo.com. Retrieved 19 Sep 2015.
  5. ↑ C.Y. Lee, author of The Flower Drum Song, in the special features of the Flower Drum Song DVD, Universal Pictures, 2006.
  6. ↑ Coe, Richard L. (23 Dec 1961). "Lilting Glow Brightens Tree". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Fred Ryan. p. B6. (registration required (help)).
  7. ↑ "'The Jack Benny Program' Jack Meets Japanese Agent (TV Episode 1962)". imdb.com. Retrieved 19 Sep 2015.
  8. ↑ Lom, Michael (2 Nov 2011). "'More Stories from Jeff Adachi' on Asian Pacific Arts". asiapacificarts.usc.edu. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  9. ↑ "PBS: You Don't Know Jack Soo". pbs.org. Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on 2 Jul 2013. Retrieved 5 Apr 2016 – via web.archive.org.
  10. ↑ "Jack Soo, 63, Actor in 'Barney Miller'. He Was Sgt. Yemana in Television Series Appeared in Movies". The New York Times. United Press International. 13 Jan 1979. p. 19. Retrieved 5 Apr 2016.
  11. ↑ "The Vandal" (Shout Factory's Barney Miller-The Complete Series)
  12. ↑ "CTVA US Comedy – "Busting Loose" (Paramount/CBS)(1977) Adam Arkin". ctva.biz. Retrieved 19 Sep 2015.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jack Soo.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.