Miyoshi Umeki

Born in Otaru, Hokkaido, Umeki was the youngest of nine children. Her father owned an iron factory. After World War II, she began her career as a nightclub singer in Japan, using the name Nancy Umeki. Her early influences were traditional kabuki theater and American pop music. Later in one of her appearances on The Merv Griffin Show, she treated viewers to her impression of singer Billy Eckstine, one of her American favorites growing up. ==Career==

'' (1957) '' (1961) Umeki was best known for her Oscar-winning role as Katsumi in Sayonara (1957), as Mei Li in both the Broadway musical and 1961 film Flower Drum Song, and as Mrs. Livingston in the television series ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father''. She was a shin Issei, or post-1945 immigrant from Japan. She recorded for RCA Victor Japan from 1950 to 1954 and appeared in the film Seishun Jazu Musume. The show was directed by Gene Kelly and ran for two years. A cover story in Time stated "the warmth of her art works a kind of tranquil magic". ==Personal life and death==

Umeki's first marriage, to television director Frederick Winfield "Wynn" Opie in 1958, ended in divorce in 1967. The couple operated a Los Angeles-based business renting editing equipment to film studios and university film programs. According to Umeki's son (who died 11 years after his mother), Umeki lived in Sherman Oaks, California, for a number of years, then moved to Licking, Missouri, to be near her son and his family, which included three grandchildren. Known as Miyoshi Hood, she died there on August 28, 2007, aged 78, from cancer. ==Discography==

RCA Victor Japan (1950–1954) During her singing career in Japan, Miyoshi recorded the following songs: • "Sleepy My Love" (1950) • "Under the Moonlight" (1950) • "Don't Say That Person's Name" (1950) • "Evening Whisper" (1950) • "I Feel Like Crying" (1950) • "I'm Waiting for You" (1950) • "One Night of Sorrow" (1951) • "Misery" (1951) • "It Isn't Fair" (1951) • "Sentimental Me" (1951) • "My Foolish Heart" (1953) • "Why Don't You Believe Me?" (live) (1953) • "Again" (1953) • "Manhattan Moon" (1953) • "With A Song In My Heart" (1953) • "I'll Walk Alone" (1953) • "My Baby's Coming Home" (1953) • "Silent Night" (1953) • "I'm Walking Behind You" (1953) • "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" (1953) • "Sayonara (The Japanese Farewell Song)" (1953) • "My Ichiban Tomodachi" (1953) • "Vaya con Dios" (1954) • "Kiss Me Again Stranger" (1954) • "My Ichiban Tomodachi" (live) (1954) • "Sayonara (The Japanese Farewell Song)" (live) (1954) Two other Japanese language songs were recorded in 1952. Singles on Mercury Records (1955–1959) She signed with Mercury Records in 1955 and recorded the following 45 rpm singles: • "How Deep Is the Ocean/Why Talk" (1955) • "The Little Lost Dog/The Story You're About to Hear Is True" (1956) • "The Mountain Beyond the Moon/Oh What Good Company We Could Be" (with Red Buttons) (1957) • "Sayonara (The Japanese Farewell Song)/Be Sweet Tonight" (1957) • "Sayonara/On and On" (1957) Miyoshi recorded a version of "Pick Yourself Up" for Mercury Records in 1959, but the song was never released. Albums on Mercury Records Miyoshi Sings For Arthur Godfrey (MG-20165) (1956) Tracks: • "If I Give My Heart to You" • "China Nights (支那の夜 Shina no yoru)" • "I'm in the Mood for Love" • "My Baby's Coming Home" • "How Deep Is the Ocean?" • "Slowly Go Out of Your Mind" • "Teach Me Tonight" • "Hanna Ko San" • "Can't Help Loving That Man" • "'S Wonderful" • "Over the Rainbow" • "Sayonara (The Japanese Farewell Song)" Miyoshi (album) (MG-20568) (1959) Tracks: • "My Heart Stood Still" • "My Ship" • "You Make Me Feel So Young" • "They Can't Take That Away from Me" • "Sometimes I'm Happy" • "I'm Old Fashioned" • "That Old Feeling" • "Gone with the Wind" • "Jeepers Creepers" • "Wonder Why" • "I Could Write a Book" ''Miyoshi – Singing Star of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song'' (MGW-12148) (1958) (reissue of the Arthur Godfrey album with some tracks replaced) Tracks: • "Sayonara" • "If I Give My Heart to You" • "China Nights (支那 の夜 Shina no yoru)" • "I'm in the Mood for Love" • "My Baby's Coming Home" • "How Deep Is the Ocean?" • "Slowly Go Out of Your Mind" • "Teach Me Tonight" • "Hanna Ko San" • "Can't Help Loving That Man" • "Over the Rainbow" • "The Little Lost Dog" Film themes Miyoshi Umeki recorded two theme songs for films in which she appeared: • "Sayonara" for Sayonara (1957) • "Cry for Happy" for Cry for Happy (1961) Cast recordings Flower Drum Song (Broadway Original Cast; 1958), Sony Records Flower Drum Song (Film Soundtrack; 1961), Decca Records Tracks by Miyoshi Umeki: • "A Hundred Million Miracles" • "I Am Going to Like It Here" • "Don't Marry Me" • "Wedding Parade/A Hundred Million Miracles" ==Filmography==