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World cinema in mourning, martial arts star passes away
2025-12-05 19:57:41 / SHOWBIZ
The protagonist of "Mortal Kombat" and other legendary films has passed away at the age of 75.
Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa, the cinematic star also in "Memoirs of a Geisha" or "The Last Emperor", has died after a stroke, as his representative, Penny Vizcarra, confirmed to "People".
The Asian actor passed away on Thursday, December 4, after complications from his illness, in Santa Barbara, California.
Who was Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa?
Kari Hiroyuki Tagawa was known for his presence in the film and television versions of "Mortal Kombat," following his first appearance as the series' evil sorcerer, Shang Tsung, in the original 1995 film by Paul GS Anderson.
The actor was born in Tokyo on September 27, 1950. His father's job in the U.S. Army led to the family moving to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, when he was 5. He also lived in Louisiana and Texas before his family moved to California, where he began acting at Duarte High School.
Tagawa began learning martial arts in Japan. He continued the sport while attending the University of Southern California before returning to Japan and studying with Master Nakayama of the Japan Karate Association, Deadline reported. He later returned to Los Angeles, where he learned his own martial arts style, Chu Shin, and began acting.
While teaching Chu Shin, director and screenwriter Bernardo Bertolucci discovered the actor and cast him for the role that cemented his reputation in “The Last Emperor,” according to his wife, Sally. At the age of 37, in 1987, he landed the lead role, playing Chang in Bertolucci’s Oscar-winning film.
Then, in 1991, the actor played Heihachi Mishima in “Tekken,” which spawned a popular video game franchise. However, it was his role in 1995’s Mortal Kombat that led to some of his most well-known performances, including the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. He reprised the role twice more in the 2013 web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy and the 2015 series Mortal Kombat X: Generations. He later reprised his role as Shang Chung in 2019, voicing the character in Mortal Kombat 11 and lending his physical form to the 2023 game Mortal Kombat: Onslaught.
During his long career, he has appeared in over 150 films, television series, and video games. In addition to Bertolucci, he has worked with directors such as Ivan Reitman on Twins (1988), Philip Kaufman on Rising Sun (1993), Tim Burton on Planet of the Apes (2001), Michael Bay on Pearl Harbor (2001), and Rob Marshall on Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).
He has also appeared in television series such as “MacGyver,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and “Miami Vice.” His last major role was on television, when he played Nobusuke Tagomi in the 2015 Amazon Prime series, The “Man in the High Castle.”
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