Sab Shimono

Sab Shimono, born Saburo Shimono in Sacramento, California, in 1937, is an American actor of Japanese descent whose career has spanned Broadway, regional theater, film, and television. His parents, Edith Mary (née Otani) and Masauchi Shimono, operated a restaurant. During World War II, following the signing of Executive Order 9066, Shimono and his family were held at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center and the Granada War Relocation Center. He later attended Sacramento High School and earned a degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Shimono's Broadway career began in 1966 when he was cast as Ito opposite Angela Lansbury in Jerry Herman's Mame. He subsequently appeared in Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen in 1970 and the musical Ride the Winds. In 1976, he took on the role of Manjiro in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince's Pacific Overtures, returning to the show's 2004 revival to play Lord Abe. He also appeared in the short-lived 1978 musical Barbary Coast.

Beyond Broadway, Shimono has been active in regional theater, including work at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, as well as with the East West Players and South Coast Repertory. His stage work includes The Chickencoop Chinaman in 1972, Philip Kan Gotanda's The Wash — for which he received a 1991 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Play — Julia Cho's Aubergine, and the 2010 world premiere of No-No Boy, written by Ken Narasaki and based on the novel by John Okada.

His film credits include Lt. Tomonaga in Midway, Saito in the 1986 comedy Gung Ho, Hiroshi Kawamura in Come See the Paradise, the coroner "Painless" Kumagai in Presumed Innocent, Dr. Max Shinoda in Suture, Lord Norinaga in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and Dr. Tam in The Shadow. He appeared alongside John Travolta and Robin Williams in Old Dogs as Japanese billionaire Yoshiro Nishamura, and provided the voice of Subotai in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian, dubbing actor Gerry Lopez. His independent film work includes Life Tastes Good, Americanese, and The Sensei.

On television, Shimono starred in the 2008 ABC Family miniseries Samurai Girl and appeared in two episodes of M*A*S*H. He provided voice performances for several animated series, including the role of Uncle Chan on Jackie Chan Adventures, the elderly Emperor on Samurai Jack, Airbending Master Monk Gyatso and Master Yu in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Mr. Murakami on the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. He also voiced characters in two episodes of The Simpsons. His live-action television appearances include guest roles on Two and a Half Men and Royal Pains. In 2023, he appeared in an episode of Magnum P.I. playing a character who had experienced wartime internment, an experience that paralleled his own family history.

Shimono is gay and has been in a relationship with writer Steve Alden Nelson since 2001. The couple registered their domestic partnership in April 2005 and married in San Diego on June 23, 2008.