Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the prolific and widely respected actor known for his roles in Mortal Kombat, The Last Emperor, Memoirs of a Geisha, and The Man in the High Castle, passed away on Thursday morning in Santa Barbara at the age of 75. The award-winning, Tokyo-born actor’s cause of death was reportedly due to complications from a stroke.
Tagawa is widely beloved for his iconic turn as the villainous sorcerer Shang Tsung across multiple film, TV, and video game versions of the Mortal Kombat franchise. He first brought the character to life in New Line’s 1995 film adaptation, returned for 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and later revisited the role in the 2013 web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy and a 2015 episode of Mortal Kombat X: Generations. He continued to embrace the fan-favorite character in the gaming world as well, voicing Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat 11 (2019) and contributing his likeness to the 2023 role-playing title Mortal Kombat: Onslaught.
After moving to the U.S. as a child, Tagawa honed his skills in traditional Japanese karate while attending the University of Southern California. Tagawa later returned to Japan as an exchange student to further train at the Japan Karate Association, ultimately creating his own ChuShin martial arts style, which he shared with his students. He also collaborated with top athletes, including WBC light flyweight champion Brian Viloria, and provided guidance to members of the University of Hawaii football team.
Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat, took to X (formerly Twitter) to honor Tagawa, writing, “We lost a legend today. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa played Shang Tsung in the 1995 Mortal Kombat film and sadly passed away at age 75. We had the privilege of his portrayal on the first MK film but also as an amazing voice actor in the Mortal Kombat 11 game.“
Tagawa made Hawaii — and the island of Kauai — his home, raising his family there. He is survived by his wife, Sally, their three children — Calen, Brynne, and Cana — and two grandchildren, River and Thea Clayton.
