"Wax On, Wax Off"

Noriyuki "Pat" Morita has died. He was 73. Born in 1932 in Islet, California, he spent several years of his childhood living in one of the internment camps during WWII. Though he performed in many movies, "Mr. Miyagi" from The Karate Kid is one of the best known characters for those of us who were teenagers in the 70s and 80s. He was also known as "Al" "Arnold" [ed.] on Happy Days, but "Mr. Miyagi" changed a lot of kids' lives. As silly as that sounds, it was true. A lot of kids that were having trouble fitting in or dealing with high school, learned how to cope from Pat's character, so patient, so calm. What a lot of people don't know is that Pat Morita was a very good stand up comedian opening for the musical acts of Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, and Diana Ross. All I know, is Pat "Mr. Miyagi" Morita was so cool! He will be missed.