caption death_date death_place years_active birth_place birth_date spouse image article_title birth_name occupation
morita in a 1971 promotional photo 24 november 2005 las vegas , nevada , u.s. 1964 -- 2005 isleton , california , u.s. 28 june 1932 kathleen kitahara 1970 1989 -lrb- divorced -rrb- , evelyn guerrero 1994 yamachi 2005 -lrb- his death -rrb- 1953 1967 -lrb- divorced -rrb- , yukiye pat morita 1971 publicity photo.jpg pat morita
 noriyuki morita actor
pat morita

noriyuki `` pat '' morita -lrb- june 28 , 1932 -- november 24 , 2005 -rrb- was an american film and television actor who was well known for playing the roles of matsuo `` arnold '' takahashi on `` happy days '' and kesuke miyagi in the `` the karate kid '' movie series , for which he was nominated for the academy award for best supporting actor in 1984 .
morita was the lead actor in the television program `` mr. t and tina '' , regarded as the first american sitcom centered on a person of asian descent , and `` ohara '' , a police-themed drama .
both television shows were aired on abc , but they were both short-lived .
