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Tagawa in 2007, photo by s_bukley /Bigstock.com
Date of Birth: September 27, 1950
Place of Birth: Higashi-Azabu, Tokyo, Japan
Date of Death: December 4, 2025
Place of Death: Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: Japanese
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (田川 洋行) was a Japanese-American actor, film producer, and martial artist. He was known for playing sorcerer Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat , as well as for his roles in the films Armed Response , The Last Emperor , Spellbinder (1988), Licence to Kill , The Perfect Weapon , Kickboxer 2: The Road Back , Showdown in Little Tokyo , Nemesis (1992), Rising Sun , Picture Bride , Soldier Boyz , White Tiger , The Phantom , Danger Zone (1996), Top of the World (1997), American Dragons , John Carpenter’s Vampires , Bridge of Dragons , Snow Falling on Cedars , The Art of War , Pearl Harbor , Planet of the Apes (2001), Elektra (2005), Memoirs of a Geisha , Balls of Fury , Hachi: A Dog’s Tale , Tekken , and its sequel; The Tomb (2009), 47 Ronin , Ninja Apocalypse , Skin Trade , The Man with the Iron Fists 2 , Little Boy , Showdown in Manila , Kubo and the Two Strings , and Sky Sharks ; on the shows Space Rangers , Nash Bridges , Revenge , The Man in the High Castle , Lost in Space , and Blue Eye Samurai ; and in the made-for-tv movies NetForce , Johnny Tsunami , and its sequel; Faith of My Fathers , and Ghost Voyage . He was also credited as Cary Tagawa and Panteleimon.
Cary-Hiroyuki was born in Tokyo, the son of a Japanese actress mother, Mariko Hata, who appeared on Takarazuka, and a Japanese-American father, who was in the U.S. Army. He was raised in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Polk, Louisiana, and Fort Hood, Texas, as his father was stationed there; and finally settled in Southern California. He spoke fluent Japanese.
Cary-Hiroyuki had three children with his wife Sally Phillips.
In 2016, he acquired Russian citizenship. He converted to the Russian Orthodox faith.