How Yukie From The Karate Kid Died

Nobu McCarthy was a Japanese Canadian actress born in Ottawa, Canada in November, 1934. She was discovered by a talent agent while shopping in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles, and her film and television career took off from there. Over the next decade she made appearances on television shows like The Bing Crosby Show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Hawaii Five-O.

One of McCarthy’s most prominent roles was in The Karate Kid Part II. She played the supporting character of Yukie, Mr. Miyagi’s long-lost love from his time in Okinawa. During the film we see Mr. Miyagi return to Okinawa to help support his dying father, who Yukie had been taking care of. Miyagi and Yukie finally get to reconnect, and eventually fall in love again. Yukie is also aunt to Tamyln Tomita’s character of Kumiko, Daniel LaRusso’s primary love interest in the film.

McCarthy passed away in 2002 from a ruptured aortic aneurism

YoutubeNobu McCarthy in ‘The Karate Kid Part II’

On April 6, 2002 McCarthy suffered a ruptured aortic aneurism in Brazil while on location for an upcoming movie, Gaijin – Ama-me Como Sou. According to an article on Backstage.com, she had just returned to work after suffering from pneumonia before the rupture.

Tamlyn Tomita, her co-star from The Karate Kid Part II, was also a cast member in Gaijin – Ama-me Como Sou.. She said that the movie, about several generations of Japanese immigrants in Brazil, suspended production following McCarthy’s death.

McCarthy’s life

YoutubeNobu McCarthy on an episode of Hollywood Structured in 1991.

McCarthy was originally born Nobu Atsumi in Ottawa, Ontario. Her father, Masaji Atsumi, was a Japanese fashion designer and private secretary to the Japanese ambassador who had been stationed in Canada at the time.

Her family eventually moved back to Japan, where she spent much of her childhood. She studied ballet throughout her childhood, and eventually got into modeling. Her modeling career led her to beauty pageants, and one year she was crowned “Miss Tokyo.”

In 1955, to the objection of her parents, She married United States Army Sgt. David McCarthy. With McCarthy she moved to the United States, where her acting career would eventually take off.

Following a divorce from McCarthy in the 1960’s she withdrew from acting. During the 1970’s, however, she rekindled her career by joining the East-West players, the nation’s first professional Asian American theatre organization. Another notable alumni of the organization is her Karate Kid co-star, Pat Morita.

After some issues in 1989 the artistic director of the group, Mako, resigned. McCarthy was appointed as his replacement and served as the artistic director until 1993.

According to George Takei, who worked with the East-West players, “She brought her calming influence to the group, broadened the outreach, and brought a sense of balance and stability,” he says in the Backstage article. Takei is best known for his role as Sulu on “Star Trek.”

She earned an independent spirit award in 1989 for her starring role in the indie feature film The Wash. She also got into teaching theater, taking on classes at California State University, Los Angeles and UCLA.

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