Soon-tek Oh (Korean: 오순택, O Sun-taek – also spelled as Soon-taek Oh or Soon-taik Oh or Soon-teck Oh; June 29, 1932 – April 4, 2018) was a Korean–American actor. He was the voice of Fa Zhou in Disney's Mulan and the direct-to-video sequel Mulan II and the sadistic Colonel Yin in Missing in Action 2: The Beginning. He has starred in many films, and also acted in television series, including Stargate SG-1; MacGyver; M*A*S*H; Charlie's Angels; Airwolf, Magnum, P.I.; Hawaii Five-O; Kung-Fu; Zorro; The Man with the Golden Gun; The Final Countdown: Baa Baa Black Sheep; Highlander: The Series and Touched by an Angel.
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Early life
Oh was born on June 29, 1932, in Mokpo during the period when Korea was under Japanese rule. He attended high school at Gwangju, South Korea, and attended Yonsei University in Seoul.
After the end of Japanese rule in August 1945 and before the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, Oh and his family emigrated to the United States where he attended the University of Southern California. He later earned an MFA from UCLA.
Acting career
On Broadway, Oh appeared in the original cast of the Stephen Sondheim musical Pacific Overtures. He was an early member of East West Players, an Asian American theatre group founded in 1965.
In 1995, Oh founded the Korean American theatre group, Society of Heritage Performers, which later evolved into the present Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. From 2005, he was a professor at Seoul Institute of the Arts.
Death
Oh died in Los Angeles on April 4, 2018, at age 85 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease, according to actor Chil Kong.
Partial filmography
Films
1966 Murderers' Row as Tempura, Japanese Secret Agent (uncredited)
1967 Yongary, Monster From The Deep as Chinese Agent (uncredited)
1971 Earth II as Chinese Diplomat (uncredited)
1971 One More Train to Rob as Yung
1974 The Man with the Golden Gun as Lieutenant Hip (as Soon-taik Oh)
1978 Good Guys Wear Black as Major Mhin Van Thieu, The Black Tigers
1980 The Final Countdown as Simura, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Pilot
1982 The Letter as Ong
1985 Bialy smok as Tai Ching
1985 Missing in Action 2 as Colonel Yin
1985 Yuki Shimoda as Himself (interviewed)
1987 Steele Justice as General Bon-soong Kwan
1987 Biały smok as Tai-ching
1987 Death Wish 4: The Crackdown as Detective Phil Nozaki
1989 Soursweet as "Red" Cudgel
1989 Collision Course as Chief Inspector Kitao
1993 A Home of Our Own as Mr. Munimura
1994 Red Sun Rising as Yamata
1994 S.F.W. as Milt Morris
Television (partial list)
1967 The Invaders as Houseboy
1968–1979 Hawaii Five-O (8 episodes) as Robert Kwon / David Chung / Chaing / Tom Wong / Vic Tanaka / Lao / Lewis Shen / Wo Fat's Lab Technician
1970 Death Valley Days , episode "The Dragon of Gold Hill" as Matsunosuke (Maso) Sakurai
1974 Kung Fu as Chen Yi
1975–1982 M*A*S*H (5 episodes) as Joon – Sung / Ralph / Dr. Syn Paik / Korean Soldier / Mr. Kwang
1977 Logan's Run as Dexter Kim
1977 Baa Baa Black Sheep as Lieutenant Miragochi / Colonel Tokura
1979 How the West Was Won as Kee
1980 Diff'rent Strokes as Mr. Kim
1981–1986 Magnum, P.I. (4 episodes) as General Nguyen Hue / Sato / Dr. Bill Su & Dr. Ling
1981 East of Eden as Lee
1982 Quincy, M.E. as Captain Bob Nishimura
1983 Hart to Hart as Lang Chen-cheng
1983 Girls of the White Orchid as Hatanaka
1983 Marco Polo as Wang Zhu
1984 The Master as Lika
1984–1987 Airwolf (3 episodes) as Minh / Tommy Liu / Hiyashi
1985–1986 T.J. Hooker (2 episodes) as Ginsu Nabutsu / Nguyen Chi
Accolades
In 2008, Soon-tek Oh was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the San Diego Asian Film Festival.
