“He lived in Las Vegas, separated from his third wife, unable to land any jobs because he was too old and still riding on the coattails of his Karate Kid heyday.” “At the time of his passing in 2005 at age 73, my father was a forgotten star,” his daughter Aly Morita wrote in a piece for Hyphen Magazine in 2010. Morita’s daughters decided not to participate in the documentary, but they have publicly spoken about him in the past. “When you watch the documentary you hear what he went through, all of his struggles, I mean I'm surprised he didn't do anything worse to himself.” “That hit home for me because I had an uncle who lived with us for about, maybe two or three years of my life I was in junior high, and I know what that's like,” Alvarez shared with Yahoo Canada. The film reveals an incredibly a heart wrenching moment with the cast of Happy Days during 30th anniversary reunion of the show, where Morita’s drinking prevented him from participating in all the events with the cast. More Than Miyagi shows the stark and tragic reality of Morita’s alcoholism, a significant factor that led to his death in November 2005. Walt Disney Television via Getty Images HAPPY DAYS 30th ANNIVERSARY REUNION Much of the film is told through her narrative, sharing her personal memories of their lives together, including the impact Morita’s drinking had on their relationship. She originally met her husband when she was a teen but they reconnected later in life and ended up getting married. Morita’s third wife, Evelyn Guerrero, is actually Bruce’s cousin.
Mr. miyagi series#
You’ve probably heard that name if you’re a fan of the Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. This is really just one piece of the complicated life Morita lived, going on to fulfill his dream of being an entertainer, starting out as a stand-up comedian under the same agent as fellow comedian Lenny Bruce. When Morita was able to leave the hospital in California at age 11, he was taken by the FBI to join his parents at an internment camp with other Japanese Americans in Arizona. An experimental surgery allowed him to beat the odds and walk again but just a few years later, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 led to another traumatic moment in Morita’s life. Morita was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis at age two and spent nine years in a hospital, immobilized in a body cast for seven years. The documentary also provides more context on how Morita developed the legendary character of Arnold, which has a connection to the cook who worked at the Chinese restaurant run by Morita’s parents.Įven if you’re not the biggest Karate Kid fan or you never really watched Happy Days, there’s plenty to learn about Morita in More Than Miyagi that will hold anyone’s attention.įrom a body cast, to an internment camp, to the stage Miyagi, due to concerns about casting a comedic actor who played Arnold on Happy Days in the role. We come to find out in the documentary that Macchio still wishes he had gone to the Academy Awards ceremony with Morita in 1985.įor anyone who is a Karate Kid fan, there are lots of memories from fellow cast members about making those films, including the famous “wax on, wax off” moment, and discussions around the studio not wanting Morita to play Mr. The producer revealed he was recently speaking to someone who didn’t even know Morita was nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Karate Kid. Miyagi.” One thing that really comes across is that Morita was not only important to fans of his work, but also to his colleagues.Īlvarez believes there is still so much people don’t know about Japanese-American actor.
Miyagi.”Ĭoming off the heels of the Cobra Kai release on Netflix, Karate Kid actors including Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, Happy Days stars like Henry Winkler and Marion Ross, and other celebrities including Tommy Chong, Larry Miller and Esai Morales tell their personal stories about Morita - the man known to millions as “Mr. “I would say the manuscript was the blueprint of everything and that's what got us excited, especially because he had talked about his early years and that's the stuff that you don't know, pre-Mr. “There some really dark things,” the film’s producer Oscar Alvarez told Yahoo Canada. A manuscript written by the late Karate Kid star Pat Morita, sharing his life story in his own words, was the catalyst of an inspiring but heartbreaking documentary More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story.
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