Jack Soo

A genial laid back slumbereyed character player especially adept at the relaxed wisecrack or dry comment JapaneseAmerican actor Jack Soo was born in Oakland California in 1917 his real name being Goro Suzuki In the postWWII years he entertained as a standup performer in nightclubs and had made a reasonable dent on the Midwest circuit by the time he earned his big break playing the club MCcomedian in the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit Broadway musical Flower Drum Song in 1958 Three years later Soo was upgraded to the Sammy Wong character in the film version and decided to settle in Hollywood Over the next decade despite a typical lack of roles for AsianAmericans he managed to find a niche for his hip deadpan demeanor on TV and a few other films including Whos Been Sleeping in My Bed 1963 the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie 1967 and John Waynes controversial proVietnam War film The Green Berets 1968 Soo is probably best remembered for his smartaleck Detective Sgt Nick Yemana on Barney Miller 1974 one of the more popular sitcoms of the 1970s alongside Hal Linden and Abe Vigoda Sadly he died of cancer during the shows fifth season in 1979 at the height of his popularity