By P.C. Staff
The family of Patti Yasutake has confirmed that the thespian died Aug. 5 after a battle with cancer. She was 70.
Over her decades-long career, Yasutake appeared on stage and the big and small screens, with the award-winning Netflix series “Beef” her most-recent high-profile acting role. She also appeared in commercials and several episodes of the syndicated TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa, reprising the role in movie iterations of the franchise.
Patti Yasutake (Photo: Courtesy of the Yasutake Family)
Yasutake also co-starred in Ron Howard’s 1986 culture-clash comedy “Gung Ho,” playing the wife of a Japanese automotive executive (played by Gedde Watanabe) charged with reviving a shuttered American automobile plant. Yasutake reprised the role for the property’s short-lived TV incarnation.
In the indie film world, Yasutake also co-starred with Mako, Nobu McCarthy and Sab Shimono in 1988’s “The Wash,” for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the supporting actress category. (That movie can be viewed on YouTube at tinyurl.com/mryrz34t.)
The native Los Angeleno graduated with honors from UCLA with a degree in theater arts, after which she started her professional career with East West Players, on staff and onstage. Playwright Velina Hasu Houston recalled that Yasutake was “the original Himiko in my play ‘Tea’ in New York City in 1987.” Yasutake also served as an assistant director for the play and as director for a second cast at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.
“Patti was a powerful and talented actress,” Houston said. “The world of arts and entertainment has lost a skilled artist. I am thankful for the rich contributions she made to the arts and also for having known her.”
Regarding her late-career role as Fumi Nakai in “Beef,” Yasutake, in an interview with Netflix’s Tudum magazine, was quoted: “I was just elated, this many decades into my career, that a role like this would come along.” Regarding the dearth of mainstream acting opportunities she faced after graduating from UCLA, she also told the magazine, “There [were] really no opportunities to have a career as an Asian American actress; I didn’t do martial arts, I didn’t speak a second language. Especially back then, that’s all they saw you as.”
Yasutake was predeceased by her parents, Michael and Jean Yasutake; and her sister, Irene Hirano, founding president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum and founder and past president of the U.S.-Japan Council. She is survived by her siblings, Linda Hayashi and Steven Yasutake, and other relatives, friends and colleagues.
A memorial for Yasutake will be held at a yet-to-be determined date and time at East West Players. In lieu of flowers, the family instead requests that a contribution be made to the theater company.
