Patti Yasutake, best known for her roles in Beef and Star Trek: The Next Generation, passed away peacefully on August 5 surrounded by friends and family after a long battle with cancer, her manager and friend Kyle Fritz told Deadline.
She was 70. Los Angeles native Yasutake, born and raised in Gardena and Inglewood, graduated from UCLA with honors in theater.
She started her career at East West Players, where she worked with the company’s co-founder, Japanese-American acting icon Mako, for six years onstage, on staff and on the board, performing in over a dozen shows.
Yasutake made her major feature debut in Ron Howard’s 1986 comedy Gung Go as Umeki, a relocated Japanese wife earnestly trying to Americanize.
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