Patti Yasutake, who portrayed Nurse Alyssa Ogawa on and a pair of franchise movies and Fumi Nakai, the widowed mother of Joseph Lee’s sculptor, on , has died. She was 70. Yasutake died Monday at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center after a long battle with a rare form of T-cell lymphoma, her longtime manager, Kyle Fritz, told .
“Patti was my first client when I began over 30 years ago,” he said in a statement. “We enjoyed every day we got to work together, and I will miss her spirit talent and tenacity but most of all her friendship.” The Los Angeles native also played a relocated Japanese wife earnestly trying to Americanize in the Ron Howard-directed (1986) and on its ABC series adaptation that lasted just nine episodes in 1986-87.
She received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her turn in (1988), and her big-screen résumé included (1992) and (1999) as well. Yasutake played Starfleet officer Nurse Ogawa on 16 episodes of the syndicated from 1990-94 and reprised the role for (1994) and (1996). Last year, she appeared on seven episodes of the Netflix sensation as the fierce mother of George Nakai and mother-in-law of Ali Wong’s Amy Lau.
Born on Sept. 6, 1953, Yasutake was raised in Gardena and Inglewood. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in theater and then began her career with the theater company East West Players, where she worked with the Oscar-nominated actor Mako — later her co-star in — for six years.
As a theater director, Yasutake developed and staged world premieres for East West Players ( ), for the Richmond Shepherd Theater ( ) and for the Ensemble Studio Theater ( ), and she remounted for the Odyssey Theatre. She also directed workshop presentations at the Mark Taper Forum, Arizona Theater Company, Los Angeles Theater Center and Geffen Playhouse. Survivors include her siblings, Linda and Steven.
A memorial will be held at . Donations in her memory can be made to the theater company. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day More from The Hollywood Reporter.
