Jack Soo
Jack Soo (October 28, 1917 – January 11, 1979) was a Japanese American actor. He was best known for his role as Detective Nick Yemana on the television sitcom Barney Miller. Soo was the first Asian actor to play an American-born Asian character in a regular television series, Valentine's Day (1964).
Soo was born Goro Suzuki on a ship traveling from the United States to Japan in 1917. His parents lived in Oakland, California and they decided that as he was the oldest boy, they wanted to have him born in Japan. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in English. He lived in Oakland, California, until ordered into internment along with other Japanese Americans during World War II. He was sent to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah and fellow internees recalled him as a "camp favorite", an entertainer singing at dances and numerous events.
Soo's career as an entertainer began in earnest at the end of the war, first as a stand-up nightclub performer primarily in the Midwestern United States. He changed his name to Soo while working at a Chinese night club called Chin's in Cleveland, Ohio.
During his years playing the nightclub circuit, he met and became friends with future Barney Miller producer Danny Arnold, who was also a performer at the time.
A documentary about Son's life is called You Don't Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story (Documentary), written, directed and produced by Jeff Adachi.
Appearances
| Show | Episode | Title | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barney Miller | S01.E01 | "Ramon" | 23-Jan-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E02 | "Experience" | 30-Jan-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E03 | "Snow Job" | 6-Feb-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E04 | "Graft" | 13-Feb-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E05 | "The Courtesans" | 20-Feb-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E06 | "Stakeout" | 27-Feb-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E07 | "Bureaucrat" | 6-Mar-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E08 | "Ms. Cop" | 13-Mar-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E09 | "Vigilante" | 20-Mar-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E10 | "The Guest" | 27-Mar-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E11 | "Escape Artist" | 10-Apr-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E12 | "Hair" | 17-Apr-75 |
| Barney Miller | S01.E13 | "The Hero" | 1-May-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E01 | "Doomsday" | 11-Sep-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E02 | "The Social Worker" | 18-Sep-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E03 | "The Layoff" | 25-Sep-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E04 | "Ambush" | 2-Oct-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E05 | "Heat Wave" | 9-Oct-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E06 | "The Arsonist" | 16-Oct-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E07 | "Grand Hotel" | 23-Oct-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E08 | "Discovery" | 30-Oct-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E09 | "You Dirty Rat" | 13-Nov-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E10 | "Horse Thief" | 20-Nov-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E11 | "Rain" | 27-Nov-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E12 | "Fish" | 4-Dec-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E13 | "Hot Dogs" | 11-Dec-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E14 | "Protection" | 18-Dec-75 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E15 | "Happy New Year" | 8-Jan-76 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E16 | "Sniper" | 22-Jan-76 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E17 | "Fear of Flying" | 29-Jan-76 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E18 | "Block Party" | 12-Feb-76 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E19 | "Massage Parlor" | 19-Feb-76 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E20 | "The Psychiatrist" | 26-Feb-76 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E21 | "The Kid" | 4-Mar-76 |
| Barney Miller | S02.E22 | "The Mole" | 18-Mar-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E01 | "Evacuation" | 23-Sep-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E02 | "Quarantine: Part 1" | 30-Sep-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E03 | "Quarantine: Part 2" | 7-Oct-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E04 | "Bus Stop" | 14-Oct-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E05 | "The Election" | 21-Oct-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E06 | "Werewolf" | 28-Oct-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E07 | "The Recluse" | 11-Nov-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E08 | "Noninvolvement" | 18-Nov-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E09 | "Power Failure" | 9-Dec-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E10 | "Christmas Story" | 23-Dec-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E11 | "Hash" | 30-Dec-76 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E12 | "Smog Alert" | 6-Jan-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E13 | "Community Relations" | 13-Jan-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E14 | "The Rand Report" | 20-Jan-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E15 | "Fire '77" | 27-Jan-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E16 | "Abduction" | 3-Feb-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E17 | "Sex Surrogate" | 10-Feb-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E18 | "Moonlighting" | 17-Feb-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E19 | "Asylum" | 24-Feb-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E20 | "Group Home" | 10-Mar-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E21 | "Strike: Part 1" | 24-Mar-77 |
| Barney Miller | S03.E22 | "Strike: Part 2" | 31-Mar-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E01 | "Goodbye, Mr. Fish: Part 1" | 15-Sep-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E02 | "Goodbye, Mr. Fish: Part 2" | 22-Sep-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E03 | "Bugs" | 29-Sep-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E04 | "Corporation" | 6-Oct-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E05 | "Burial" | 13-Oct-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E06 | "Copy Cat" | 27-Oct-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E07 | "Blizzard" | 3-Nov-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E08 | "Chase" | 17-Nov-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E09 | "Thanksgiving Story" | 24-Nov-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E10 | "Tunnel" | 1-Dec-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E11 | "Atomic Bomb" | 15-Dec-77 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E12 | "The Bank" | 5-Jan-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E13 | "The Ghost" | 12-Jan-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E14 | "Appendicitis" | 19-Jan-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E15 | "Rape" | 26-Jan-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E16 | "Eviction: Part 1" | 2-Feb-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E17 | "Eviction: Part 2" | 9-Feb-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E18 | "Wojo's Problem" | 23-Feb-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E19 | "Quo Vadis?" | 2-Mar-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E20 | "Hostage" | 23-Mar-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E21 | "Evaluation" | 4-May-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E22 | "The Sighting" | 11-May-78 |
| Barney Miller | S04.E23 | "Inauguration" | 18-May-78 |
| Barney Miller | S05.E01 | "Kidnapping: Part 1" | 14-Sep-78 |
| Barney Miller | S05.E02 | "Kidnapping: Part 2" | 14-Sep-78 |
| Barney Miller | S05.E03 | "The Search" | 21-Sep-78 |
| Barney Miller | S05.E04 | "Dog Days" | 28-Sep-78 |
| Barney Miller | S05.E05 | "The Baby Broker" | 5-Oct-78 |
| Barney Miller | S05.E06 | "Accusation" | 12-Oct-78 |
| Barney Miller | S05.E08 | " Loan Shark" | 2-Nov-78 |
| Barney Miller | S05.E09 | " The Vandal" | 9-Nov-78 |
| Barney Miller | S05.E24 | " Jack Soo, a Retrospective" | 17-May-79 |