'YOU DON'T KNOW JACK: THE JACK SOO STORY' TO BE SCREENED JULY 31

The documentary, "You Don’t Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story", highlighting the life of actor Jack Soo, will be screened on Saturday, July 31, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum, with producer/director/writer Jeff Adachi on hand to discuss his work and to answer questions.

Best known for his role as Detective Sgt. Nick Yemena in the popular 1970s situation comedy "Barney Miller", Soo was born Goro Suzuki in Oakland in 1917. When he and his family were incarcerated in the Topaz, Utah concentration camp by the U.S. government during World War II, Jack was known as a popular entertainer in camp, singing at dances.

As the documentary explains, Jack began his show business career in earnest after the war, working the nightclub circuit in the Midwest as a standup comedian and singer. He changed his name to Jack Soo to help avoid the prejudice directed at people of Japanese ancestry because of World War II and found work as an announcer, comedian and singer. It was during these years that Soo developed a friendship with a standup comedian named Danny Arnold, who would prove instrumental in getting Soo his most famous TV role.

His big break came in 1958 when he was cast as nightclub comedian and emcee Frankie Wing in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, "Flower Drum Song". Soo had been working frequently at the famous San Francisco nightclub, Forbidden City, when he was cast along with Miyoshi Umeki and Pat Suzuki. According to "You Don’t Know Jack", Soo tried to change his professional name back to his real name, Suzuki, but given that his character was Chinese, he was told to keep his professional name for the musical.

Later, Soo was cast in the movie version of "Flower Drum Song" (1961), but this time as one of the leads, Sammy Fong (opposite Nancy Kwan). He also was one of the first Asian American actors to be cast in a situation comedy as Rockwell Sin in "Valentine’s Day" starring Tony Franciosa in 1964. He appeared in several movies, including "The Green Berets" with John Wayne and "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and was a frequent guest star on television shows such as "Hawaii Five-O" and "MASH". His friend, Danny Arnold, then cast Soo as Nick Yemena in "Barney Miller" in 1975.

Considered a pioneer Asian American actor, Soo told TV Guide that he refused roles of houseboys and gardeners because he didn’t want to portray Asians only in that way. As Soo explained, "I’m not putting down domestics. If it hadn’t been for our first-generation Japanese Americans, who were houseboys and gardeners, there could never have been the second-generation doctors, architects --- and actors. I just didn’t want to play domestics on a stage."

Adachi interviews several people who knew and worked with Soo over the years, including Arnold, George Takei, Nancy Kwan and "Barney Miller" co-stars Max Gail and Steve Landesberg. Besides Arnold, there are also interviews with Hal Kanter, film critic Lewis Beale, Soo’s daughter and former inmates from Topaz.

"You Don’t Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story" is directed by Adachi, whose award-winning film "The Slanted Screen" premiered at SFIAAFF in 2006, "You Don’t Know Jack" reveals how Jack Soo’s work laid the groundwork for a new generation of Asian American actors and comedians. This program is free to National Museum members or with admission.