Mako

The actor, Mako (Mako Iwamatsu), died on Friday of esophagus cancer. Those of you who aren't familiar with his name, he was the Wizard in the Conan movies and he was the unmistakable voice of Aku in the Samurai Jack cartoons. He was always a favorite of mine because of his great voice and his great skill as a character actor. His acting always reminded me of what a Samurai would be like; very bold, very strong in emotion and a little crazy. but his most important role was in the fact that he opened the door for Asian actors in the west (he became a US citizen in the 1950's). He became a favorite of American audiences when Asians were coming out of the shadow of World War 2, and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Such a great talent, kind human being and pioneer will be missed.