James Saburo Shigeta June 17 1929 July 28 2014 was an American actor singer and musician of Japanese descent He was noted for his roles in The Crimson Kimono 1959 Walk Like a Dragon 1960 Flower Drum Song 1961 Bridge to the Sun 1961 Die Hard 1988 and Mulan 1998 In 1960 he won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer Male along with three other actors In his early career Shigeta often played romantic male lead roles which were almost nonexistent for an actor of Asian descent during his time making him a trailblazer in Asian American representation in media The Goldsea AsianAmerican Daily magazine listed him as one of the Most Inspiring AsianAmericans Of All Time Before his Hollywood career he found success as a pop singer and performer abroad especially in Japan and Australia