Hollywood is mourning the death of Patti Yasutake. TVLine confirmed that the actress, best known for her roles in Beef and Star Trek: The Next Generation, died after a long battle with cancer at 70 years old. Yasutake’s longtime friend and manager, Kyle Fritz, confirmed her passing in a statement to Deadline.
“Patti was my first client when I began over 30 years ago,” Fritz shared. “We enjoyed every day we got to work together, and I will miss her spirit, talent, and tenacity, but most of all, her friendship.” Born and raised in Garden and Inglewood, just outside Los Angeles, Yasutake graduated from UCLA with honors in theater and performed at East West Players. She made her acting debut in an episode of T.J. Hooker in 1985, as well as Knots Landing and Hail to the Chief that same year. In 1986, she made her feature film debut in the Ron Howard comedy Gung Ho, later reprising her role of Umeki in the ABC sitcom inspired by the movie.
Other credits include Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Take Five, Duet, The Wash, Mr. Belvedere, Murphy Brown, Sons and Daughters, Rhythm & Blues, and Lush Life. In 1990, Yasutake landed the role of Nurse, and later Doctor, Alyssa Ogawa in Star Trek: The Next Generation, appearing in 16 episodes throughout Seasons 4 through 7. She reprised the role in Star Trek: Generations in 1994 and Star Trek: First Contact in 1996.
Patti Yasutake had a steady career in both film and television following her Star Trek days, appearing in episodes of Murder One, Living Single, Dangerous Minds, Crisis Center, Judging Amy, ER, Crossing Jordan, Grey’s Anatomy, Bones, Boston Legal, Cold Case, The Young and the Restless, NCIS: Los Angeles, Pretty Little Liars, and more. Movies include The Coverup and Drop Dead Gorgeous, along with several TV movies.
Her final on-screen role was as Fumi Nakai in the Emmy-winning Netflix series Beef in 2023. Earlier this year, Yasutake lent her voice to the video game Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which was one of several games she had done over the course of her career. She also was part of BioShock Infinite, Star Trek: Armada II, and Hallmark: Enterprise-D. As if that wasn’t enough, she did plenty of theater, performing at New Mexico Repertory Theater, American Southwest Theatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, and more. Yasutake later served as a theater director, developing and staging world premieres at several theaters.
Patti Yasutake is survived by her siblings Linda Hayashi and Steven Yasutake, an extended family of nieces and nephews, and a family of friends and close colleagues. Her family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to East West Players, where a memorial will be held on Aug. 25.