Jack Soo - Oakland

via Wikipedia ¹

Jack Soo (born Goro (Jack) Suzuki, October 28, 1917 – January 11, 1979) was an actor, comedian, and singer who grew up in Oakland, and was probably best known for his role on the 1970s TV series Barney Miller as the wise-cracking Nick Yemana. His first big role was in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical Flower Drum Song.

Early Life

While some records give his birthplace as Oakland, according to a documentary and other sources, Jack was born aboard a ship headed for Japan. ^1,2 His parents, Kanichiro (George) Suzuki (1880 – 1929) and Haruko "Haru" Shiozawa (Suzuki) (1890 – 1949), decided that as eldest son, Jack should be born in Japan. George had arrived in the U.S. in 1902, and Haru in 1911 or 1914. Jack's younger brother, Michio (Mike) Suzuki (1928 - 1994) was born in Oakland.

George was a tailor, with a shop on Telegraph Avenue, while Haru worked as a dressmaker. The Suzukis were good friends with the Yamashita family, and George Suzuki and Kishiro Yamashita were both tailors. Jack and his brother grew up near West Tenth Methodist Church, and spent a lot of time in the Yamashita home. ⁴

George bought out his partner in the Eastern Tailoring Company in January 1929. Sadly, he died just a few months later in March 1929, leaving Haru to raise the boys.

1920 ad

Education

Jack attended Lowell Jr. High School until 1932, then Oakland Tech, graduating in 1934. [ or 1935?; there are newspaper references of him at Tech in 1935, but the Tech history site says 1934 ] At Tech, Jack played baseball and was on the staff of The Scribe, the student newspaper.

In 1934, Jack won an award from the Japanese American Citizen's League for an essay and speech, "Why I'm Proud to be an American."

with award for essay ³

Following graduation from Tech, Jack attended UC Berkeley, where he studied English. He also continued playing some recreational sports including football, and was in at least one theatrical production with the Federal Theatre Project.

During this time, Jack was also performing at Forbidden City and other nightclubs in San Francisco's Chinatown.

WWII

Following Executive Order 9066 in 1942, Americans of Japanese descent near the coasts were sent to assembly centers, then imprisoned in "relocation centers" further inland. The Suzukis were sent first to the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno. Living in sub-standard housing, people worked to keep up morale with what entertainment they could produce. As reported in the Tanforan Totalizer newsletter, Jack and others formed the Cossack Chorus to perform at events. And of course, Jack took part in athletic events at the center, like a north-south softball game.

The Suzukis were then sent to the internment camp at Topaz, Utah. While there, Jack served as emcee for The New Faces of 1943 gala new year musical. A month later, Jack and others were allowed to leave camp to perform Varieties of 1943 at nearby Oak City, Utah (population 578 in 2010.) His fellow internees called Jack a "camp favorite." ¹

In 1943, Jack got a job with military intelligence and was allowed to leave the camp and move to Cleveland. Haru and Mike spent another two years in the camp. At the end of the war, they returned to Oakland.

Career and Family

In addition to his intelligence job, Jack worked in nightclubs in the Midwest, though he also performed in New York. At a Chinese nightclub in Cleveland, Jack started using the name Soo to avoid anti-Japanese sentiment. ¹ Jack later said he chose the name as it was more generically Asian.

During this time, Jack became friends with fellow comic Danny Arnold, who would go on to produce Barney Miller.

In 1945, Jack married Jean Ann Zeldar (Soo). They had 3 children, Jayne, Richard, and James.

His first big role was in Flower Drum Song, a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical on Broadway in 1958. When the show first opened, he was cast as Frankie Wing, and non-Asian actor Larry Blyden (in yellowface) was cast as Sammy Fong. At some point Jack replaced Blyden in the role, and Jack then reprised the role in the 1961 film version.

Jack joined Motown Records in 1965 as one of their first non-Black artists, and he was the first male singer to record "For Once in My Life". The record was never released and was shelved in the Motown archives. ^1,2 The song had originally been written as a slow ballad, but was made famous a few years later by Stevie Wonder's up-tempo version.

He went on to have acting roles in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?, The Oscar, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Green Berets (which also included George Takei), and Return from Witch Mountain.

Jack's first regular TV role was in the comedy Valentine's Day, where he starred opposite Anthony Franciosa. He then had parts in numerous TV shows, including Hawaii 5-0, The Odd Couple, and M*A*S*H.

But the role he's probably best remembered for is detective sergeant Nick Yemana on Barney Miller. The show was on the air from 1975 to 1982, but Jack lived only into the 5th season.

Death and Legacy

Jack was a smoker, and was diagnosed with esophageal cancer during the fourth season of Barney Miller. A running joke on the show was that his character made bad coffee. Jack joked "It must have been my coffee" when he was being wheeled into surgery. ¹ He died January 11, 1979, at age 61, and is buried in Hollywood Hills.

In 2009, Jeff Adachi released a documentary, You Don't Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story. The 60-minute film features "rare footage and interviews with Soo’s co-stars and friends, including actors George Takei, Nancy Kwan and Max Gail, comedians Steve Landesberg and Gary Austin, and producer Hal Kanter." ² Many people were unaware that Jack was of Japanese descent, assuming he was Chinese American or Korean American, and had no idea he and his family had been imprisoned during WWII.

Mike Suzuki was director of the Office of Policy Coordination and Analysis of the Administration on Aging for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He died in 2004 in Maryland.

Haru and George Suzuki are buried in Mountain View Cemetery.