Soon-tek Oh

Korean–American actor

Soon-tek Oh 오순택
Soon-tek Oh as Sensei in Beverly Hills Ninja
Born	(1932-06-29)June 29, 1932 Mokpo, Chōsen (now South Korea)
Died	April 4, 2018(2018-04-04) (aged 85) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Soon-taek Oh
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–2006

Soon-tek Oh
Hangul	오순택
Revised Romanization	O Sun-taek
McCune–Reischauer	O Sun-t'aek

Soon-tek Oh (Korean: 오순택, O Sun-taek – also spelled as Soon-taek Oh or Soon-taik Oh or Soon-teck Oh; June 29, 1932 – April 4, 2018^[1]) was a Korean–American actor. He was the voice of Fa Zhou in Disney's Mulan and the direct-to-video sequel Mulan II and the sadistic Colonel Yin in Missing in Action 2: The Beginning. He has starred in many films, and also acted in television series, including Stargate SG-1; MacGyver; M*A*S*H; Charlie's Angels; Airwolf, Magnum, P.I.; Hawaii Five-O; Kung-Fu; Zorro; The Man with the Golden Gun; Baa Baa Black Sheep and Touched by an Angel.

Early life

Oh was born on June 29, 1932, in Mokpo during the period when Korea was under Japanese rule. He attended high school at Gwangju, South Korea, and attended Yonsei University in Seoul.

After the end of Japanese rule in August 1945 and before the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, he and his family immigrated to the United States where he attended the University of Southern California. He later gained an MFA from UCLA.^[2]

Acting career

On Broadway, he appeared in the original cast of the Stephen Sondheim musical Pacific Overtures.^[3] He was an early member of East West Players, an Asian American theatre group founded in 1965.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995 he founded the Korean American theatre group, Society of Heritage Performers, which later evolved into the present Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. From 2005, he had been a chair professor at Seoul Institute of the Arts.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Oh died in Los Angeles on April 4, 2018, at age 85 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease, according to actor Chil Kong.^[4]^[5]

Partial filmography

Films

1966 Murderers' Row as Tempura, Japanese Secret Agent (uncredited)
1967 Yongary, Monster From The Deep as Chinese Agent (uncredited)
1971 Earth II as Chinese Diplomat (uncredited)
1971 One More Train to Rob as Yung
1974 The Man with the Golden Gun as Lieutenant Hip (as Soon-taik Oh)
1978 Good Guys Wear Black as Major Mhin Van Thieu, The Black Tigers
1980 The Final Countdown as Simura, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Pilot
1982 The Letter as Ong
1985 Bialy smok as Tai Ching
1985 Missing in Action 2 as Colonel Yin
1985 Yuki Shimoda as Himself (interviewed)
1987 Steele Justice as General Bon-soong Kwan
1987 Biały smok as Tai-ching
1987 Death Wish 4: The Crackdown as Detective Phil Nozaki
1989 Soursweet as "Red" Cudgel
1989 Collision Course as Chief Inspector Kitao
1993 A Home of Our Own as Mr. Munimura
1994 Red Sun Rising as Yamata
1994 S.F.W. as Milt Morris
1996 Street Corner Justice as Kwong-chuck Lee
1997 Beverly Hills Ninja as Sensei
1998 Yellow as Woon Lee
1998 Mulan as Fa Zhou (voice)
2000 The President's Man as General Vinh Tran
2001 Roads and Bridges as Father (voice)
2001 Forgotten Valor as Colonel
2001 True Blue as "Tiger"
2002 The Visit as Sujong's Father
2002 SWAT as Sayonara
2004 Mulan II as Fa Zhou (voice)
2005 Last Mountain as Karus
2006 Gang-jeok as Jong-chae (final film role)

Television (partial list)

1967 The Invaders as Houseboy
1968-1979 Hawaii Five-O (8 episodes) as Robert Kwon / David Chung / Chaing / Tom Wong / Vic Tanaka / Lao / Lewis Shen / Wo Fat's Lab Technician
1974 Kung Fu as Chen Yi
1975-1982 M*A*S*H (5 episodes) as Joon – Sung / Ralph / Dr. Syn Paik / Korean Soldier / Mr. Kwang
1977 Logan's Run as Dexter Kim
1977 Baa Baa Black Sheep as Lieutenant Miragochi / Colonel Tokura
1979 How the West Was Won as Kee
1980 Diff'rent Strokes as Mr. Kim
1981-1986 Magnum, P.I. (4 episodes) as General Nguyen Hue / Sato / Dr. Bill Su & Dr. Ling
1981 East of Eden as Lee
1982 Quincy, M.E. as Captain Bob Nishimura
1983 Hart to Hart as Lang Chen-cheng
1983 Girls of the White Orchid as Hatanaka
1983 Marco Polo as Wang Zhu
1984 The Master as Lika
1984-1987 Airwolf (3 episodes) as Minh / Tommy Liu / Hiyashi
1985-1986 T.J. Hooker (2 episodes) as Ginsu Nabutsu / Nguyen Chi
1987 Sky Commanders as Kodiak (voice)
1988 MacGyver as Raymond Ling
1992 Highlander: The Series as Kiem Sun
1993 The Legend of Prince Valiant as Sing Lu (voice)
1994 Babylon 5 as The Muta-Do
1994-1995 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (3 episodes) as Bon-bon Hai
1996 The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest as General Yala (voice)
1997 Life with Louie as Buddhist Monk (voice)
1997 Stargate SG-1 as Moughal
2000 King of the Hill as Monk (voice)

Accolades

In 2008, Soon-tek Oh was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the San Diego Asian Film Festival.^[6]

References

^ "Soon-tek Oh, 'Mulan' and 'Man With the Golden Gun' Actor, Dies at 85". The Hollywood Reporter. 2018.
^ "About Soon-tek Oh". Abbey Entertainment Beverly Hills. Archived from the original on March 15, 2002. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
^ "R.I.P. Soon-tek Oh, memorable character actor on M*A*S*H, Charlie's Angels, Hawaii Five-O". Me-TV Network. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
^ Sung, Ji-eun. "Pioneering actor Oh Soon-tek is dead at 85". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
^ Nyren, Erin (April 7, 2018). "Soon-tek Oh, Voice of Mulan's Father and Asian-American Theater Pioneer, Dies at 85". Variety. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
^ "SDAFF Award Winners | Pacific Arts Movement". pacarts.org. Retrieved April 27, 2018.