Mako

Japanese-American actor (1933-2006)

  • Fame57.8
  • Momentum0.0
  • Wikipedia47.3K
Source-basedFalling
Lived 1933–2006, aged 73Japan
  • Wikipedia
    38 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    1933–2006
    Aged 73
  • Known for
    Pearl Harbor
    2001
Summary
Updated 2026-06-09

One Oscar nomination, 165 roles, and a single name. Mako moved through five decades of American film and television as Hollywood's go-to character actor — then became the voice of Aku and Uncle Iroh, roles that outlived him.

Biography

About

Born in Kobe in 1933, Makoto Iwamatsu followed his dissident parents to the United States after the war, served in Korea, and trained at Pasadena Playhouse before co-founding East West Players. His second film role — Po-Han in The Sand Pebbles in 1966 — earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He cycled through character parts for three decades: Kichijiro in Silence, Oomiak in The Island at the Top of the World, Akiro the Wizard across both Conan films, Kungo Tsarong in Seven Years in Tibet, and a Tony-nominated turn in Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtur…

Deep cuts

Filmography

Low confidence
Deep cuts

TV credits

Low confidence
Deep cuts

Awards

Low confidence
  • star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Where to find them

Platforms

By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Falling
57.8
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Historical25.3
Source confidence65.0
Completeness75.0
Global rank
Country rank
Category rank
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence