Yuki Shimoda

Yuki Shimoda (August 10, 1921 – May 21, 1981) was an American actor born in Sacramento, California, whose career spanned Broadway, film, and television across several decades. He is perhaps best remembered for his starring role as Ko Wakatsuki in the 1976 NBC television film Farewell to Manzanar.

Shimoda's Broadway career ran from 1953 to 1976 and encompassed three productions. He made his Broadway debut at the Martin Beck Theatre in Teahouse of the August Moon, where he served as both performer and choreographer in the role of Mr. Keora, a run that lasted from 1953 to 1956. He followed that engagement with Auntie Mame at the Broadhurst Theatre, playing the role of Ito alongside Rosalind Russell from 1956 to 1958, and later reprised the role in the 1958 film adaptation. His final Broadway credit was Pacific Overtures, Stephen Sondheim's musical directed by Harold Prince, in which he played Abe, First Councillor, at the Winter Garden Theatre during the 1975–1976 season.

During World War II, following the signing of Executive Order 9066, Shimoda was incarcerated at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center. After his release, he settled in Chicago, where he taught Japanese at the University of Chicago and earned a degree in accounting from Northwestern University. He also worked as a dancer with the Chicago Opera Company during this period.

Shimoda's television work included a co-starring role across 39 episodes of the 1960s series Johnny Midnight, opposite Edmond O'Brien. His film appearances spanned more than two decades and included roles in Don't Give Up the Ship (1959), Seven Women from Hell (1961), Midway (1976), MacArthur (1976), and The Last Flight of Noah's Ark (1980), among others. His final screen appearance came in the 1981 television miniseries A Town Like Alice, in which he played Sgt. Mifune.

Shimoda died of cancer on May 21, 1981, at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. A documentary, Yuki Shimoda: Asian American Actor, was released posthumously in 1985.