Jack Soo
A genial, laid back, slumber-eyed character player especially adept at the relaxed wisecrack or dry comment, Japanese-American actor Jack Soo was born in Oakland, California, in 1917, his real name being Goro Suzuki. In the post-WWII years, he entertained as a stand-up performer in nightclubs and had made a reasonable dent on the Midwest circuit by the time he earned his big break playing the club MC/comedian 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 Asian-Americans, he managed to find a niche for his hip, deadpan demeanor on TV and a few other films including Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963), the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), and John Wayne's controversial pro-Vietnam War film The Green Berets (1968). Soo is probably best remembered for his smart-aleck 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 show's fifth season in 1979 at the height of his popularity.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 4.144 |
Birthday | 1917-10-28 |
Place of Birth | Oakland, California, U.S. |
Also Known As | Goro Suzuki, |
1968
The Green Berets
5.732/166
Col. Mike Kirby picks two teams of crack Green Berets for two missions in South Vietnam. The first is to strengthen a camp that is trying to be taken...
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The Green Berets
1961
Flower Drum Song
6.1/31
A young woman arrives in San Francisco's Chinatown from Hong Kong with the intention of marrying a rakish nightclub owner, unaware he is involved with...
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Flower Drum Song
1978
Return from Witch Mountain
5.9/223
Tony and Tia are other-worldly twins endowed with telekinesis. When their Uncle Bene drops them off in Los Angeles for an earthbound vacation, a displ...
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Return from Witch Mountain
1966
The Oscar
5.1/14
An amoral lowlife accidentally stumbles into an acting career that sets him on a trajectory to Hollywood stardom. But everyone on whom he steps on the...
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The Oscar
1973
She Lives!
5.75/4
A young couple searches for the cure for the girl's terminal cancer.
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She Lives!
2009
You Don't Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story
0/0
The film tells actor Jack Soo's story through a montage of film and television clips, rare footage, interviews with family members, friends, co-worker...
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You Don't Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story
1963
Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?
5.7/6
TV star Jason Steel reluctantly becomes the sounding board for his best friends' bored wives, and must fend off their advances while managing his own...
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Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?
1967
Thoroughly Modern Millie
6.9/88
Millie Dillmount, a fearless young lady fresh from Salina, Kansas, determined to experience Life, sets out to see the world in the rip-roaring Twentie...
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Thoroughly Modern Millie
1969
The Monk
7.5/2
Underworld attorney Leo Barnes hires Gus Monk to safeguard a valuable envelope containing information on a mobster. Monk refuses — until he meets Mrs....
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