Nobu McCarthy
| Nobu McCarthy | |
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| Born | Nobu Atsumi November 13, 1934 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | April 6, 2002 (aged 67) Londrina, Brazil |
| Spouse | David McCarthy (1955–1970) William Cuthbert (1976–2002) (her death) |
Nobu McCarthy (November 13, 1934 – April 6, 2002) was a Japanese Canadian actress, stage director, and fashion model.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
McCarthy was born Nobu Atsumi in Ottawa, Ontario, the daughter of Yuki (née Kano) and Masaji Atsumi, a Japanese fashion designer and diplomatic attache stationed in Canada at the time.[1] She was raised in Japan, where she studied ballet. A modeling career eventually led to a beauty pageant where she won the title of "Miss Tokyo". She married Army Sgt David McCarthy in 1955 and moved to the United States of America.
[edit] Career
While shopping in the Little Tokyo district in Los Angeles, she was discovered by talent agent Fred Ishimoto, which led to her film debut in The Geisha Boy (1958) starring Jerry Lewis. She starred with Lloyd Bridges in a 1959 Sea Hunt television episode as an Hawaiian woman fighting to protect pearl-beds from poachers. For the next decade, McCarthy continued acting, appearing in smaller roles in a number of movies as well as guest spots on television, including an appearance on The Bing Crosby Show on ABC in the 1964-1965 season. She also had two children, but divorced McCarthy in 1970.
In 1971, McCarthy joined East West Players, an Asian American theatre group in Los Angeles. In 1976, she starred in the television movie, 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. In 1986 she had a supporting role opposite Pat Morita in the film The Karate Kid, Part II. Her starring role in the indie feature The Wash, opposite Mako, earned her an Independent Spirit Award 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 and UCLA. In 1996, East West Players presented McCarthy with a lifetime achievement award.
McCarthy also did the voice-overs at the beginning and end of Picture Bride. She died from an aortic aneurysm in 2002 while on location in Brazil, filming Gaijin 2 - Ama-me Como Sou, starring Tamlyn Tomita.
