Sab Shimono

Biography

Sab Shimono is an American actor of Japanese descent whose career has moved between Broadway musicals and supporting roles in film and television. Spanning several decades, his work has made him one of the most recognisable Asian American character actors of his generation.

He began on the stage, on Broadway and in regional theatres. In 1966 he played Ito opposite Angela Lansbury in the musical Mame, and he later appeared in Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen and in Pacific Overtures, the Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince musical, where he played Manjiro. On screen he has worked in Midway, Gung Ho, Presumed Innocent, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, The Shadow and Old Dogs, alongside John Travolta and Robin Williams. On television he has voiced characters in Jackie Chan Adventures, Samurai Jack, Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Simpsons.

He is closely associated with the East West Players and South Coast Repertory companies. His personal life has also been public: he has been in a relationship with the writer Steve Alden Nelson since 2001 and married him in 2008.

Key films

• Midway (1976), as Lt. Tomonaga in the naval battle drama
• Gung Ho (1986), as Saito, in the comedy about Japanese and American workers at a car plant
• Presumed Innocent (1990), as the coroner 'Painless' Kumagai in the courtroom thriller
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), as Lord Norinaga in the franchise's third film
• The Shadow (1994), as Dr. Tam in the pulp hero adaptation
• Old Dogs (2009), as the Japanese billionaire Yoshiro Nishamura, alongside John Travolta and Robin Williams