Nobu McCarthy ( ja, ノブ・マッカーシー, born Nobu Atsumi (渥美延); November 13, 1934 – April 6, 2002) was a Canadian actress. She received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in the film ''

The Wash The Wash is a rectangular bay and multiple estuary at the north-west corner of East Anglia on the East coast of England, where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire and both border the North Sea. One of Britain's broadest estuaries, it is fed by the riv ...

''.

Early life

McCarthy was born Nobu Atsumi in Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, the daughter of Masaji and Yuki Atsumi. Her father was a Japanese fashion designer and diplomatic

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

stationed in Canada at the time. She was raised in Japan, where she studied

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. A

modeling A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

career eventually led to a

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

in which she won the title of "Miss Tokyo". She married army sergeant David McCarthy in 1955 and moved to the United States.

Career

While shopping in the Little Tokyo district of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, McCarthy was discovered by

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

Fred Ishimoto, which led to her film debut in '' The Geisha Boy'' (1958). In 1960, she appeared in the comedy film '' Wake Me When It's Over''. She starred with

Lloyd Bridges Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...

in a 1959 ''

Sea Hunt ''Sea Hunt'' is an American action adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges a ...

'' television episode as a Hawaiian woman fighting to protect pearl-beds from poachers. In 1962 she appeared in the television series ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

'' in the episode "The John Augustus Story" as Mayleen. For the next decade, McCarthy continued acting, appearing in smaller roles in a number of films as well as guest spots on television, including the title role in the 1960 episode "Princess of Crazy Creek" of the syndicated

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

series ''

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pi ...

'', starring Grant Sullivan. In 1961, she appeared as Haru in the ''Laramie'' series episode "Dragon at the Door". She also appeared in the ABC adventure dramas '' Adventures in Paradise'' and '' The Islanders''. During this time she made two guest appearances on ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'': in 1959 she played defendant Mitsou Kamuri in "The Case of the Blushing Pearls," and in 1965 she played Sally Choshi in "The Case of the Wrongful Writ." She also guest starred on ABC's '' The Bing Crosby Show'' in the 1964-1965 season. In the final, 1966, season of ''

Mister Ed ''Mister Ed'' is an American television sitcom produced by Filmways that aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse which orig ...

'', she played Mei Ling, a Chinese restaurant manager and spy. She starred with Robert Conrad in the final episode of the First Season of '' The Wild Wild West'', dated April 22, 1966 "The Night of the Sudden Plague" as a Chinese woman "Anna Kirby", who is the daughter of a mad professor breeding bacteria for a serum that causes temporary paralysis. She also made appearances in '' Batman, ''

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

'', ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'' and '' Love, American Style''. In 1970, the McCarthys divorced; they had two children. In 1971, McCarthy joined

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give v ...

, an Asian American theatre group in Los Angeles. In 1973, she appeared in a second-season episode of ''

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

''. In 1976, she appeared in an episode of ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th St in Greenwich Village. The series was broadcast on ABC Network from January 23, 1975, to May 20, 1982. It was created ...

'' as prostitute/robbery victim Dorothy Murakami. She then starred in the

television movie 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 ...

'' Farewell to Manzanar'', based on the novel of the same title. That year she also married attorney William J. Cuthbert, though she kept McCarthy as her stage name. She made an appearance in an episode of the television sitcoms ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

'' and ''

Diff'rent Strokes ''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackso ...

''. She appeared in three episodes of ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

.'' In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

she had a supporting role opposite

Pat Morita Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his roles as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on '' Happy Days'', Mr. Miyagi in ''The Karate Kid'' film series, Captain Sam Pak on the sitc ...

in the film ''

The Karate Kid Part II ''The Karate Kid Part II'' is a 1986 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the second installment in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise and the sequel to the 1984 film '' The Karate Kid'' ...

''. Her starring role in the indie feature ''

'', opposite

Mako , better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese voice actress, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also performed in a Japanese television ...

, earned her an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

nomination in 1989. That same year she replaced Mako as artistic director of East West Players, a position she held until 1993. During this time, McCarthy also taught theatre at

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. East West Players presented McCarthy with a lifetime achievement award in 1996, and the Visionary Award in 1999. McCarthy also did the voice-overs at the beginning and end of '' Picture Bride.''

Later years

In 1976, six years after her divorce from David McCarthy, Nobu married William Cuthbert.

Death

On April 6, 2002, McCarthy died at the age of 67 from a ruptured aortic aneurysm while she was on location in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, filming '' Gaijin - Ama-me Como Sou''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Nobu 1934 births 2002 deaths Actresses from Ottawa Canadian actresses of Japanese descent Canadian expatriate actresses in the United States Canadian film actresses Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Deaths from aortic aneurysm Female models from Ontario