Gary "Gedde" Watanabe (born June 26, 1955) is an American actor and comedian. He is perhaps best known for voicing the character of

Ling Ling may refer to: Fictional characters * Ling, an ally of James Bond's from the film ''You Only Live Twice'' * Ling, a character in the ''Mulan'' franchise * Ling, a playable character from the mobile game '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' * Ling ...

in the 1998 animated film '' Mulan'' and its 2004 sequel '' Mulan II'', as well as playing

Long Duk Dong Long Duk Dong is a fictional character who appears in '' Sixteen Candles'', a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by John Hughes. Played by Japanese American actor Gedde Watanabe, the character is an Asian foreign exchan ...

in the 1984 film ''

Sixteen Candles ''Sixteen Candles'' is a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut, it was the first in a string of films Hughes ...

'', and as Nurse Yoshi Takata in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

medical drama '' ER'' from 1997 to 2003. He was also an original cast member of the

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

musical ''

Pacific Overtures ''Pacific Overtures'' is a 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 starting in 185 ...

''.

Early life and education

Watanabe was born and raised in

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

in a Japanese-American family. His mother, who had been previously interned during World War II, worked as a seamster at the Utah Tailoring Company. He performed in several dramatic productions in high school, both acting and singing. After graduation, Watanabe relocated to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, where he worked as a street musician while honing his acting skills.

Career

In 1976, Watanabe's first role was as a member of the original

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 ...

cast of ''

'', originating the roles of Priest, Girl, and The Boy. He has since appeared in a number of films and television series, the first of which was ''The Long Island Four'' in 1980. Many of his roles are caricatured East Asians with heavy accents, though he himself does not speak Japanese. He had a starring role in both the film ''

Gung Ho ''Gung ho'' () is an English term, with the current meaning of "overly enthusiastic or energetic". It originated during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) from a Chinese term, ( zh, hp=gōnghé, l=to work together), short for Chinese I ...

'' and its

television spinoff A spin-off in television is a new series containing characters or settings that originated in a previous series, but with a different focus, tone, or theme. For example, the series '' Frasier'' was a spin-off of the earlier series ''Cheers'': t ...

. In the 1989 movie ''

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

'' starring

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific ...

, Watanabe co-starred as Kuni, a karate instructor and abusive host of a TV game show called ''Wheel of Fish''. He later reprised this role on the '' Weird Al Show''. Watanabe appeared on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

'' from 1988 to 1991 as Hiroshi and had a recurring role as gay nurse Yoshi Takata on the television drama from 1997 to 2003. During the nineties, Watanabe studied acting at Theater Theater in Hollywood, California, with Chris Aable, who introduced him to fellow actors

Jon Cedar Jon Cedar (January 22, 1931 – April 14, 2011) was an American actor. He appeared in more than sixty television and film roles during his career. Career Cedar began his acting career in high school theater productions at Detroit High School. ...

and Steve Burton. He voiced various Japanese characters on the animated television comedy ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

''. In 1998, he voiced Ling in the Disney animated film '' Mulan'' and reprised this role for the 2004

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...

sequel '' Mulan II'' and the 2005 video game ''

Kingdom Hearts II is a 2005 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios, Buena Vista Games for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to ''Kingdom Hearts (video game), King ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Stage

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Gedde 1955 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Living people American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American film actors of Asian descent American comedians of Asian descent Male actors from Utah American male actors of Japanese descent People from Ogden, Utah American Conservatory Theater alumni