Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the instantly recognizable character actor whose decades-long career spanned blockbuster films, acclaimed dramas and fan-favorite TV series, has died. He was 75.
According to Deadline, Tagawa died early Thursday (December 4) in Santa Barbara due to complications from a stroke, surrounded by his children.
While his resume includes more than 150 film, TV and video-game credits, many Parade readers will remember him as Lt. A.J. Shimamura on Nash Bridges, along with major arcs on Revenge and The Man in the High Castle.
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Tagawa first broke out in 1987 with Bernardo Bertolucci’s Oscar-winning The Last Emperor, and he went on to build a career defined by versatility—and longevity. He appeared in studio films including License to Kill, Rising Sun, Pearl Harbor, Planet of the Apes, Elektra, Memoirs of a Geisha and 47 Ronin.
He was also beloved in the action and fantasy worlds, thanks in part to his unforgettable performance as evil sorcerer Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat franchise. Tagawa originated the role in the 1995 hit film, returned for the 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and continued voicing or playing the character in multiple TV, film and video-game spinoffs—including 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11 and 2023’s Mortal Kombat: Onslaught.
Reflecting on the phenomenon, Tagawa said in a 2019 interview that the film’s success came at “the perfect timing,” crediting both the video game's momentum and director Paul W.S. Anderson’s exhilarating creative choices, including “really upbeat, driving metal music” that “matched the action so well."
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Alongside his film career, Tagawa became a familiar presence on television. In addition to Nash Bridges, he held major roles such as Captain Terry Harada on Hawaii, Satoshi Takeda on ABC’s Revenge, and Trade Minister Nobusuke Tagomi on Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle—a performance many fans consider one of his finest.
Tagawa said he deeply identified with Tagomi, noting parallels to his own life story after being born in Tokyo and later moving to the United States. “I understood and grew up with the legacy of the war,” he said, calling his character’s search for peace a reflection of his own experiences.
He also appeared on MacGyver, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Miami Vice, Lost in Space and voiced The Swordmaker in Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai.
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Born in Tokyo, Tagawa began training in kendo as a child and later studied Japanese karate, eventually developing and teaching his own system, Chun-Shin. His martial arts background informed many of his roles, but he also saw it as a form of discipline and philosophy beyond physical combat.
Across four decades, Tagawa worked with major directors including Bernardo Bertolucci, Tim Burton, Michael Bay, Ivan Reitman, Rob Marshall and John Carpenter. His career began with an uncredited role in Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, a film that later became a cult classic.
Tagawa lived on the island of Kauai with his wife Sally, where they raised their family. He is survived by his children Calen, Brynne and Cana, and his grandchildren River and Thea.
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