Conrad Yama (born Kiyoshi Conrad Hamanaka; October 8, 1919 – March 10, 2010), was an American theatre, film, and television actor.
Early life
Born and raised in
Fresno, California
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...
, Hamanaka attended
Fresno State
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...
after high school, studying speech and psychology. As a
Nisei
is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...
(2nd generation Japanese-American), Hamanaka was
interned
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
in
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
due to
Executive Order 9066
Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...
,
where he worked on camp newspapers. As a
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
, Yama was also labeled a
No-No Boy
''No-No Boy'' is a 1957 novel, and the only novel published by the Japanese American writer John Okada. It tells the story of a Japanese-American in the aftermath of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Set in Seattle, Washing ...
.
While in the camp, one of his children caught pneumonia, and another contracted tuberculosis.
Career
Upon his release, Hamanaka moved to Chicago, where, despite being accepted to study psychology at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, Hamanaka took the stage name Conrad Yama, and following a period of training at the
Goodman Theatre
Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the lan ...
, pursued an acting career. Some of Yama's first major credits were television appearances in Asian specific roles. Following tours of ''
Teahouse of the August Moon'' and ''
Auntie Mame
''Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade'' is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father.
The book is often desc ...
'', Yama made his first appearance on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in the original production of
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popu ...
musical ''
Flower Drum Song
''Flower Drum Song'' was the eighth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1957 novel, ''The Flower Drum Song'', by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. It premiered on Broadway in 1958 and was then performed in the ...
'' as Dr. Li, and understudying
Keye Luke
Keye Luke (, Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Cant ...
in the character of Wang Chi Yang. ''Flower Drum Song'' was a significant musical because most of the Asian characters were played by Asian American actors, whereas white actors in yellowface makeup was the norm. His later Broadway credits included the musicals ''
I Had a Ball
''I Had a Ball'' is a musical with a book by Jerome Chodorov and music and lyrics by Jack Lawrence and Stan Freeman. It starred Buddy Hackett, and featured Richard Kiley and Karen Morrow.
Plot overview
Set on the Coney Island Boardwalk, it foc ...
'' and ''
Pacific Overtures
''Pacific Overtures'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by John Weidman, with "additional material by" Hugh Wheeler.
Set in 19th-century Japan, it tells the story of the country's westernization ...
'' where he played a trio of roles. Yama also appeared in the dramatic play ''
Plenty'', both Off-Broadway, at
The Public Theatre
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American L ...
, and on Broadway after the Public's production transferred. Off-Broadway, Yama originated roles in "Santa Anita '42" at both
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work.
Under the ...
and the
Chelsea Theater, and in
Frank Chin
Frank Chin (born February 25, 1940) is an American author and playwright. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Asian-American theatre.
Life and career
Frank Chin was born in Berkeley, California on February 25, 1940; until the age of s ...
's ''
The Year of the Dragon'' at
The American Place Theatre
The American Place Theatre was founded in 1963 by Wynn Handman, Sidney Lanier, and Michael Tolan at St. Clement's Church, 423 West 46th Street in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, and was incorporated as a not-for-profit theatre in that year. Tennesse ...
. In the made-for-TV version of ''Year of the Dragon'', broadcast by
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
as part of the series ''
Great Performances
''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is pr ...
'' in 1975, Yama returned as Pa Eng, the father of the protagonist, played by
George Takei
George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井 穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...
, who replaced
Randall Duk Kim
Randall Duk Kim (born September 24, 1943) is an American stage, film, and television actor.
Life
Kim was born and raised in Hawaii.
He is married to actress and fellow American Players Theatre co-founder, Anne Occhiogrosso.
Career
Theat ...
in the leading role. Yama's performance in ''Pacific Overtures'' was recorded when the entire production was taped and broadcast on Japanese television in 1976. Yama was also friends with comedian
Severn Darden
Severn Teakle Darden Jr. (November 9, 1929 – May 27, 1995) was an American comedian and actor, and a founding member of The Second City Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the Compass Players. He is known from his film appe ...
, and would appear in some of his late night comedy acts.
Due to his resemblance to
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
, Yama played Mao several times. Yama originated the part of Chairman Mao in
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (1966) ...
's ''Box-Mao-Box'', delivering authentic Mao quotations from the
Little Red Book
''Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung'' () is a book of statements from speeches and writings by Mao Zedong (formerly romanized as Mao Tse-tung), the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, published from 1964 to about 1976 and widel ...
. The role was played by Wyman Pendleton during its brief Broadway run in 1968. One of Yama's largest movie parts was playing the title role, an unnamed Chairman Mao opposite
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...
in ''
The Chairman'' (1969), also known as "The Most Dangerous Man in the World". ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' review stated, "In the best scene of all, as the story moves into Chinese headquarters, Mr. Peck has an ideological Ping-Pong match, swatting it out verbally over a table with an incisive actor named Conrad Yama". To prepare for this scene, Peck and Yama received table tennis coaching by former British table tennis champion
Johnny Leach
John Alfred Leach MBE (20 November 1922 – 5 June 2014) was a British table tennis player, coach, and author. He began competing at a relatively old age, 17, before serving in World War II. During the war, he greatly elevated his game an ...
. In a parody of this scene, Yama appeared as a Mao like figure for a
Van Heusen shirt commercial, playing table tennis with a Van Heusen wearing American diplomat. Yama had another role similar to Chairman Mao when he portrayed the Chinese Prime Minister in "The Virgin President."
Yama's other onscreen acting included a number of small and supporting roles in film, television, and
made for TV movies
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
. His highlights include ''
The King of Marvin Gardens
''The King of Marvin Gardens'' is a 1972 American drama film. It stars Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn and Scatman Crothers. It is one of several collaborations between Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson. The majority of the film is set ...
'' (1972), ''
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'' (1974), and ''
Midway'' (1976) as Admiral
Nobutake Kondō
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. As commander of IJN 2nd Fleet, the Navy's principal detached force for independent operations, Kondō was regarded as second in importance only to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.
Biog ...
. In ''
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...
'' (1972), Yama played the fruit-seller during the
Don Corleone shooting scene. Yama's last onscreen role was a small part in "See China and Die", a made-for-TV movie starring
Esther Rolle
Esther Elizabeth Rolle (November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom '' Maude,'' for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series '' G ...
in 1981.
Family
Yama had three children. His oldest child and only son is the prominent San Francisco cultural figure, writer, and musician
V. Vale
V. "Valhalla" Vale (born February 4, 1944) is an American editor, writer, interviewer, musician and, as Vale Hamanaka, was keyboardist for the initial configuration of Blue Cheer, before it became famous as a power trio. He is the publisher and p ...
. His oldest daughter is the New York City musician/singer Lionelle Hamanaka. Yama's youngest daughter is the noted children's author and illustrator
Sheila Hamanaka
Sheila Hamanaka is an American freelance children's author and illustrator.
Life
Hamanaka is a Sansei Japanese American, the daughter of actor Conrad Yama and Mary Takaoka of the Vaudeville group Taka Sisters. She has two older siblings; the wr ...
.
When Yama acted alongside his friend
Severn Darden
Severn Teakle Darden Jr. (November 9, 1929 – May 27, 1995) was an American comedian and actor, and a founding member of The Second City Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the Compass Players. He is known from his film appe ...
in ''The Virgin President'', his eldest daughter Lionelle Hamanaka also appeared with him onscreen in the part of the Prime Minister's daughter (credited as L'nelle Hamanaka). Lionelle was born after Yama was released from the camps following World War II. Because Yama withheld this from her, she only found out about internment in school. Lionelle wrote "Rohwer", a play based in part on her family's experiences which was presented as part of a series of plays about Japanese American internment by the
Pan Asian Repertory Theatre
The Pan Asian Repertory Theatre is a New York City-based theatre group that explores the Asian-American experience and provides professional opportunities for Asian-American artists to collaborate. Pan-Asian was founded by Tisa Chang and Ernest A ...
. Yama was a fan of jazz, and Lionelle performs professionally as a jazz singer.
Yama died on March 10, 2010. Several years after his death, a picture of Yama (among other photographs) appeared on the cover of an academically published monograph collecting various profiles of Japanese Americans which has originally been featured in the
Nichi Bei Times
The ''Nichi Bei Times'' (日米タイムズ ''Nichi Bei Taimuzu'') was a Japanese American newspaper headquartered in San Francisco. As of 2009 it was the oldest Japanese American newspaper in Northern California. Historically the ''Nichi Bei Times ...
.
His professional name "Yama" means "mountain" in Japanese.
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
*
ObituaryWorld Vital Index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yama, Conrad
American male stage actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American film actors of Asian descent
1919 births
2010 deaths
Japanese-American internees
American male actors of Japanese descent
Male actors from Fresno, California
20th-century American male actors