A genial, laidback, slumber-eyed character player especially adept at the relaxed wisecrack or dry comment, Japanese-American actor Jack Soo was born in Oakland, California in 1916, 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 Sammy Fong in the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit Broadway musical "Flower Drum Song" in 1958. Three years later, Soo won the honor of transferring his role to film 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?, the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, and John Wayne's controversial pro-Vietnam War The Green Berets. Soo is probably best remembered for his smart-aleck Detective Sgt. Nick Yemana on "Barney Miller," 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.


The cast of "Barney Miller" (1975) stepped out of character on a retrospective episode that aired in May of 1979 to offer a tribute to Jack, who had died a few months earlier during the show's fifth season. The episode recalled some of his best moments on the show. Was interned in a camp for Japanese-Americans in Utah during WWII. Cast as the show M.C. and comedian Frankie Wing ("Gliding through my memoree") in the 1958 Broadway cast of "Flower Drum Song", and Larry Blyden was Sammie Fong. Jack moved up to the Sammie Fong role for the 1961 film.