Jack Soo (born Goro Suzuki, October 28, 1917 – January 11, 1979) was an American actor and singer. He was best known for his role as Detective Nick Yemana on the television sitcom Barney Miller.
Early life, family and education Jack Soo was born Goro Suzuki on a ship traveling in the Pacific Ocean from the United States to Japan on October 28, 1917. His parents lived in Oakland, California, and they decided that as he was their first son, they wanted to have him born in Japan.
He graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English. He lived in Oakland until ordered into internment along with other Japanese Americans during World War II and in the wake of the passage of Executive Order 9066. He was sent to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. His fellow internees recalled him as a "camp favorite," an entertainer singing at dances and numerous events.
Career Soo's career as an entertainer began in earnest at the end of the war, first as a stand-up nightclub performer primarily in the Midwestern United States. To avoid anti–Japanese-American prejudice, he adopted the name Jack Soo while working in nightclubs such as Chin's, a Chinese nightclub in Cleveland, Ohio. He also took on the surname Soo that he had used to leave the internment camp at Topaz. Lee was author of Flower Drum Song.
His big break occurred in 1958 when he was cast in the Broadway musical hit Flower Drum Song in the role of the show MC and comedian Frankie Wing ("Gliding through my memoree"). Soo had been working in San Francisco at the Forbidden City, a Chinese nightclub and cabaret, where he was discovered by the actor and dancer Gene Kelly who was directing Flower Drum Song. Soo switched to the Sammy Fong role (Chinatown's "Nathan Detroit") during the run and reprised the role when the film version (1961) of the musical was made.
Soo’s first nationwide TV appearance was on The Jack Benny Program on November 27, 1962, as the tough-talking, street-wise talent agent in "Jack Meets Japanese Agent". In 1964, Soo played a weekly supporting role as Rocky Sin, a poker-playing con artist in Valentine's Day, a comedy television series starring Anthony Franciosa that lasted for one season. During the next decade, he appeared in films such as The Green Berets as a colonel of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and the 1967 musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as making guest appearances on TV shows such as Hawaii Five-O, The Odd Couple, and on two episodes of M*A*S*H.
Soo joined Motown Records in 1965 as one of their first non-African-American musicians. During his time there, he recorded a slow ballad version of "For Once in My Life" as the first male singer to do so. The record was never released and was shelved in the Motown archives. The song was soon after made famous by Stevie Wonder.<ref name= "jsstory"
Soo was cast in his most memorable role in 1975 on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller. He had met and befriended the show's producer Danny Arnold years earlier while working the nightclub circuit. Arnold was also a performer at the time. In the series, Soo played the laid-back, but very wry, Detective Nick Yemana, who was responsible for making the dreadful coffee that, in one of the series' running jokes, his fellow detectives had to drink every day. Occasionally, his character played against stereotypes of Asian Americans by emphasizing Yemana's solidly American background.
Soo refused to perform in roles that demeaned Asian Americans. He often spoke out against negative ethnic portrayals and was adamant about being recognized as an American.
Personal life Soo was married to Jan Zdelar, a model, in 1945. The couple had three children: Jayne, Richard, and James.
Death
Soo, a smoker, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer during Barney Millers fourth season (1977–1978), missing the last five episodes. He returned for the opening of season five, but the cancer spread quickly, and Soo died on January 11, 1979, at age 61, at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center (now the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center). His last appearance on the show was in the episode entitled "The Vandal", which aired on November 9, 1978, delivering the episode's final line, "...I have nothing to add."
Soo's last televised appearance was on an episode of the daytime version of Hollywood Squares, which aired December 4, 1978.
A running joke on Barney Miller was that Soo's character, Yemana, made bad coffee.In one episode, Yemena claimed that he used rainwater that dripped through the ceiling of the station house, which "filters out the impurities". (Ron Glass can be seen in the background of the scene, breaking up.) "It must have been my coffee," Soo joked when he was being wheeled into surgery. A retrospective episode showing clips of Soo aired on the last episode of season 5. The episode included castmates as themselves, giving personal memories of Soo, the actor. It concluded with all raising their coffee cups in a final farewell toast to him.
He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1961 Flower Drum Song Samuel Adams 'Sammy' Fong 1963 Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? Yoshimi Hiroti 1966 The Oscar Sam 1967 Thoroughly Modern Millie Ching Ho / Oriental No. 1 1968 The Green Berets Col. Cai 1978 Return from Witch Mountain Mr. "Yo-Yo" Yokomoto Television Year Title Role Notes 1962 The Jack Benny Program Himself Episode: Jack Meets a Japanese Agent 1964 Valentine's Day Rockwell 'Rocky' Sin Main cast (34 episodes) 1965 The Wackiest Ship in the Army Shiru Episode: Shakedown 1966 Summer Fun Sidney Episode: Pirates of Flounder Bay 1968–1971 Julia Tree Man Judge Warren wazaku Episode: I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas Episode: Courting Time 1969 The Monk Hip Guy ABC Movie of the Week 1970 Hawaii Five-O Sam Quong Episode: The One with the Gun1971 The Name of the Game Sergeant George Kwan Episode: The Man Who Killed a Ghost The Jimmy Stewart Show Woodrow Yamada Episode: Pro Bono Publico Episode: Cockadoodle Don't 1972 The Odd Couple Chuk Mai Chin Episode: Oscar's Promotion 1972–1975 M*A*S*H Charlie Lee Quoc Episode: To Market, to Market Episode: Payday 1973 She Lives! Dr. Osikawa ABC Movie of the Week 1974 Ironside Joe Lee Joe Lee Sing-Ho Episode: Amy Prentiss (1) Episode: Amy Prentiss (2) Episode: The Over-the-Hill Blues 1974–1975 Police Story Tai'ske Bruce Chan Bruce Chan Episode: The Hunters Episode: Year of the Dragon (1) Episode: Year of the Dragon (2) 1975 Police Woman Red Star Episode: The Bloody Nose 1975–1979 Barney Miller Detective Sergeant Nick Yemana Main cast (101 episodes), (final appearance) 1977 Busting Loose Hoofat Episode: House of Noodles
References
External links
SFIAAFF 2009: You Don't Know Jack (The Jack Soo Story) — Interview With Jeff Adachi You Don't Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story (2009)