Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, known for his iconic portrayal of Mortal Kombat villain Shang Tsung, died Thursday at the age of 75 in Santa Barbara, California.
His family told Deadline that he died due to complications from a stroke he had suffered.
Hiroyuki Tagawa was best know for his role in Mortal Kombat films: The Last Emperor, Memoirs of a Geisha and The Man in the High Castle.
Outside of the Mortal Kombat franchise, the actor showcased his martial arts skills in films such as License to Kill, Rising Sun, Snow Falling on Cedars, Pearl Harbor, Planet of the Apes, Elektra, Memoirs of a Geisha, and 47 Ronin.
“I was born in Tokyo and began training in Kendo when I was in junior high school,” Tagawa said in a 2010 interview. “Then when I was five we moved to Fort Bragg, NC; and that’s when I got my first real lesson in how to use the martial arts. Being Japanese and living in the south during the ’50s was pretty tough.”
Tagawa's last major role came in 2015 as one of the lead characters, Nobusuke Tagomi, in the Amazon film, The Man in the High Castle. According to Tagawa, he saw similarities between himself and the character he portrayed.
“I identified so much with this character and so much of my life experience — having been born in Tokyo and then coming to America just after the war, 10 years after the war," he said. "I understood and grew up with the legacy of the war. So to be good, bad and ugly — being different — [is the same] as with my character Tagomi, who seems to be the only one running around talking about peace.”
Tagawa lived in Kauai, Hawaii with his wife Sally and their three children, Calen, Brynne and Cana.