Soo was born Goro Suzuki on a ship traveling from the United States to Japan in 1917. His parents lived in Oakland, California and they decided that as he was the oldest boy, they wanted to have him born in Japan. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in English. He lived in Oakland, California, until ordered into internment along with other Japanese Americans during World War II. He was sent to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah and fellow internees recalled him as a "camp favorite", an entertainer singing at dances and numerous events. Soo's career as an entertainer began in earnest at the end of the war, first as a stand-up nightclub performer primarily in the Midwestern United States. He changed his name to Soo while working at a Chinese night club called Chin's in Cleveland, Ohio. During his years playing the nightclub circuit, he met and became friends with future Barney Miller producer Danny Arnold, who was also a performer at the time.
Career
Soo finally earned his big break in 1958 when he was cast in the Broadway musical hit Flower Drum Song in the role of the show M.C. and comedian Frankie Wing. He was working in San Francisco at the Forbidden City, a Chinese nightclub and cabaret, where he was discovered by the dancer-director of Flower Drum Song Gene Kelly, which was portrayed in the musical and movie. He was offered the chance to go toBroadway on the condition that he change his name to something Chinese, as Flower Drum Song is set in San Francisco's Chinatown. At that time, he adopted the surname that he had used to leave the internment camp at Topaz, "Soo". Soo switched to the Sammy Fong role during the run and played the role when the film version of the musical was made. Soo was first broadcast across America by Jack Benny on November 27, 1962, as the tough-talking, street-wise talent agent in "Jack Meets Japanese Agent". In 1964, Soo played a weekly supporting role as Rocky Sin, a poker-playing con artist in Valentine's Day, a comedy television series starring Anthony Franciosa that lasted for one season. During the next decade, he would appear in films such The Green Berets as a colonel of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and the 1967 musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as making guest appearances on TV shows such as Hawaii Five-O, The Odd Couple, and two episodes of M*A*S*H. Soo joined Motown Records in 1965 as one of their first non-African American artists. During his time there, he recorded a slow ballad version of "For Once in My Life" as the first male singer to do so. The record was never released and was shelved in the Motown archives. The song was soon after made famous by Stevie Wonder. Soo was cast in his most memorable role in 1975 on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller as the laid-back, but very wry, Detective Nick Yemana, who was responsible for making the dreadful coffee that, in one of the series' running jokes, his fellow detectives had to drink every day. Occasionally, his character played against stereotypes of Asian-Americans by emphasizing Yemana's solidly American background. Soo also refused to perform in roles that were demeaning to Asian Americans. He often spoke out against negative ethnic portrayals and was adamant about being a person who was seen as an American.
Personal life
Soo was married to Jan Zdelar, a model. The couple had three children and two grandchildren.
Death
Soo, a smoker, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer during Barney Millers fourth season, missing the last five episodes. He returned for the opening of Season 5, but the cancer spread quickly, and Soo died on January 11, 1979, at age 61, at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center. His last appearance on the show was in the episode entitled "The Vandal," which aired on November 9, 1978. On the show there was a running joke that Soo's character made bad coffee. Therefore, his last known words were when he was being wheeled into an operating room and he joked to Hal Linden, referring to his cancer - 'it must have been the coffee'. A retrospective episode showing clips of Soo aired at the end of the season, which concluded with the cast members raising their coffee cups in a final farewell toast to him.
