SAN FRANCISCO, (United States) (Bernama-dpa): Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who rose to fame thanks to films such as Mortal Kombat, Pearl Harbor, and The Last Emperor, has passed away at the age of 75 following a stroke, German Press Agency (dpa) reported Friday, citing United States (US) media and the actor’s family.
Born in Tokyo in 1950, Tagawa grew up mainly in the US and began appearing on the stage during his school days.
During his highly successful career, the father of three landed roles in numerous film and television productions, including Planet of the Apes and The Man in the High Castle.
Tagawa first embodied the villainous sorcerer in New Line Cinema’s 1995 Mortal Kombat adaptation before returning for 1997’s Mortal Kombat Annihilation.
According to Deadline, his breakthrough came earlier in 1987 with Bernardo Bertolucci’s Oscar-winning The Last Emperor, in which he played Chang, the emperor’s driver.
This led to a succession of roles in major studio productions such as Licence to Kill, Pearl Harbor, Planet of the Apes, Elektra, Memoirs of a Geisha and 47 Ronin, many of which drew upon his martial arts background.
In 2015, he secured one of his final prominent screen roles in Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle. -- Bernama-dpa
