George Sasaki (15 June 1931 – 10 November 2020; age 89) was an actor who appeared as an Enterprise engineer in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Sasaki was a Korean War veteran who was honorably discharged in 1952. He then started to work as background actor in film and television productions and remained an actor for six decades between the 1950s and the 2000s. Among his earliest known work are background parts in Around the World in 80 Days (1956, with Benjie Bancroft, Al Cavens, Chuck Hicks, Shep Houghton, Keye Luke, Walter Bacon, Dick Cherney, Noble Chissell, Bill Couch, Sr., Joe Garcio, Joseph Glick, Lars Hensen, Max Kleven, Monty O'Grady, Victor Paul, Edwin Rochelle, Robert Strong, Sally Yarnell, Esther Ying Lee, and Ron Veto), The Hunters (1958), Tokyo After Dark (1959, with Lawrence Dobkin), the comedy Don't Give Up the Ship (1959), and Bronco (1959, with Joseph Mell).
Further film work include Varan the Unbelievable (1962), Planet of the Apes (1968, with James Daly, Lou Wagner, Paul Lambert, Billy Curtis, Jerry Maren, Jane Ross, and Felix Silla), The Great Bank Robbery (1969, with John Anderson, Elisha Cook, John Fiedler, Bill Zuckert, Kenny Endoso, Benjie Bancroft, Al Cavens, Jack Perkins, and Arthur Tovey), House Calls (1978), The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978, with Gene LeBell and Jerry Maren), The Blues Brothers (1980, with Henry Gibson, Charles Napier, Eddy Donno, and James Avery), Modern Romance (1981, with Albert Henderson and Vic Toyota), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982, with William Shatner, John Hancock, Louis Giambalvo, Sam Anderson, David Paymer, Gary Faga, Bruce French, Marcy Lafferty, Louise Sorel, Earl Boen, Gregory Itzin, Danny Nero, John Paragon, Debra Dilley, and Ilona Wilson), Bachelor Party (1984, with John Bloom), Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985, with Mark Holton, Diane Salinger, John Paragon, Faith Burton, and Clay Hodges) [1], Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986, with Irene Tsu, Carolyn Allport, and Darryl Henriques), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987, with Michael McKean, Larry A. Hankin, Richard Herd, Bill Erwin, John Moio, Jimmie Booth, Bob Harks, and William Windom), and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988, with Ricardo Montalban, Raye Birk, Tiny Ron, Nicholas Worth, Lawrence Tierney, Mark Holton, Rick Seaman, Bruce Dobos, Joey Banks, and Joel Schultz).
Among his countless appearances in television series are episodes of Ironside (1969, with Barbara Anderson and Gene Lyons), Fantasy Island (1978, with Ricardo Montalban, Samantha Eggar, France Nuyen, and Harv Selsby), Battlestar Galactica (1979, with George Murdock), Hart to Hart (1979), From Here to Eternity (1980, with David Spielberg, Salome Jens, Warren Munson, and David LeBell), The Greatest American Hero (1981), Dynasty (1981, with Peter Mark Richman, Lloyd Haynes, Lee Bergere, and Benjie Bancroft, 1984, with Joan Collins, William O. Campbell, Dennis Howard, James Horan, Peter Paul Eastman, Juan De Villa, and Nick Trisko, 1985, with Joan Collins, William O. Campbell, Peter Paul Eastman, Juan De Villa, Tony Rocco, and Suzanne Lodge, 1985, with Joan Collins, William O. Campbell, Peter Paul Eastman, Suzanne Lodge, and Adrian Tafoya, 1986, with Joan Collins, Suzanne Lodge, Peter Eastman, and Devron Conrad, 1986, with Joan Collins, Anthony Zerbe, Tricia O'Neil, Warren Munson, Bruce Dobos, Ray Petersen, and Peter Paul Eastman, and 1987 with Joan Collins and Clyde Kusatsu), Hill Street Blues (1981, with James B. Sikking, Barbara Bosson, Charles Hallahan, Gene Cross, Cassandra Foster, and Ilona Wilson), Manimal (1983, with Lloyd Kino, Nathan Jung, John Mahon, and Jeff Imada), Murder, She Wrote (1985-1986, with Stephen Macht, Mitchell Ryan, Victor Tayback, Len Cariou, John Glover, Jim Painter, Tim O'Connor, Peter Mark Richman, Eugene Roche, and Matt Roe), The Colbys (1986, with Stephanie Beacham, Tracy Scoggins, Ricardo Montalban, Judson Scott, Ray Petersen, Tim McCormack, and Gene Poe), Falcon Crest (1983-1990, starring Robert Foxworth and with Walter Smith), and Matlock (1987, with Corbin Bernsen, Granville Van Dusen, Ann Gillespie, Larry Anderson, and Frank Collison).
Sasaki passed away on 10 November 2020 at the age of 89. [2]