Miyoshi Umeki on AllMovie

Beautiful Japanese actress Miyoshi Umeki was born on the island of Hokkaido but raised in the U.S. during her teens after gaining experience as a radio and nightclub singer. Once stateside, Umeki began appearing on television. She made an auspicious film debut in Sayonara (1957) playing a Japanese woman who finds herself caught up in bi-cultural racism when she marries American serviceman Red Buttons. The role earned both of them Oscars. On Broadway, Umeki earned acclaim playing Mei Li in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song, a role she reprised for the film version in 1961. Her film career ended in 1962; however, fans of the late '60s sitcom The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969) will remember her as housekeeper Mrs. Livingston.