Yoshio Yoda
Yoshio James Yoda (born March 31, 1934) is a Japanese-born American actor and businessman who played Takeo Fujiwara in the American television series "McHale's Navy". Early life. Yoda was born on March 31, 1934 in Tokyo, Japan, the only son of a family of manufacturers. After Yoda graduated high school, he enrolled at Keio University to study law. During this period, Yoda met Edward Ugast, then general manager in East Asia of 20th Century Fox. Ugast encouraged Yoda to pursue a career in acting. Yoda abandoned his studies and immigrated to the United States, whereupon he  enrolled at University of Southern California in August 1958 with aspirations of becoming a film producer. In summer 1961, William White, a USC faculty member, received a call from Joe Pasternak of MGM seeking a young man who could speak English and Japanese. White contacted Yoda, who was then put in touch with MGM's casting office. After a series of interviews, Yoda was cast in the part of Sgt. Roy Tada in "The Horizontal Lieutenant". Yoda's success in that role led him to be cast as Imperial Japanese Navy Seaman 3rd Class Fujiwara "Fuji" Takeo Kobiashi in the  American television series "McHale's Navy". He was recast in the role in the later feature-length films "McHale's Navy" and "McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force". Yoda continued attending school while acting, eventually earning a degree in cinema arts. Later career. After "McHale's Navy" ended in 1966, Yoda acted in the 1969 segment of "Love American Style" titled "Love and the Letter." He was associate producer for "The Walking Major", which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1971. In the cast reunion extra feature on the "McHale's Navy" first season DVD set, Edson  Stroll (Virgil in the series) stated that Yoda began primarily using his middle name of James and worked as a Toyota vice-president. He also reported that Yoda had secured his American citizenship. Yoda had lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for fifteen years, serving as assistant vice president of inventory for Toyota in Hawaii, where he had become a United States citizen and was active in the Lions Club. Since 2012, Yoda has been living in Fullerton, California. , Yoda and Bobby Wright are the last surviving cast members from the "McHale's Navy" television series. Personal life. Yoda announced that he  was to wed Yoko Okazaki, a Japanese fashion model, in June 1964. In 1965, Yoda headed the panel of judges that chose the Nisek Week Festival Queen at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.