Nobu McCarthy

Nobu McCarthy, who passed away in 2002, deserves more recognition than she gets as a pioneering Asian actress in mid-century Hollywood. Younger audiences may know her as Mr. Miyagi's love interest in The Karate Kid Part II, but her Independent Spirit Award nomination for The Wash shows the depth she reached when finally given a real role. Born in Ottawa to a Japanese mother, she navigated an industry that offered Asian women almost nothing but stereotypes, and she later led East West Players, nurturing the next generation. I think her behind-the-scenes work building Asian American theatre may outlast even her film credits. A quietly important figure.

Name (English)

Nobu McCarthy

Name (Japanese)

ノブ・マッカーシー

Reading

のぶ・まっかーしー

Born

November 13, 1934 – April 6, 2002

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Scorpio / Dog

Origin

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Occupation

model / actor / television actor / film actor

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8E%E3%83%96%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%83%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%BC

Tags

• Ontario
• model
• actor
• television actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.