Remembering Mako Iwamatsu (Uncle Iroh)

  RIP Mako Iwamatsu (December 10, 1933 - July 21, 2006) 

Six years ago today Mr. Mako Iwamatsu would die due to esophageal cancer at the age of 72. Mako would be most commonly known for the voice of Uncle Iroh from the amazing cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character Uncle Iroh would be known for his hilarious antics and his awe inspiring moral compass as he aided his nephew on a quest for self discovery. Unfortunately I do not recognise Mako in anything else other than Avatar except that one episode of The Green Hornet he's in with Bruce Lee.

Mako had a lucrative acting career being both nominated for a Tony and an Oscar for best supporting actor in The Sand Pebbles in 1966. It's easy to spot throughout The Last Airbender that Mako is an extraordinary actor. In the episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" there is segment titled "The Tale of Iroh", in this scene Iroh remembers his son he lost in the war and sings a powerful and tear jerking song called Leaves from the Vine (Little Soldier Boy). 

But I'll still remember Iroh as that hilarious Uncle that is wise beyond his years and unfortunately finding his best scenes are impossible thanks to Viacom ripping everything down off Youtube. But anyway his hilarity will always be found in the most subtle scenes such as this;

My favourite scene is where Iroh is getting mugged by a peasant and easily disarms him of his weapon to teach him how to form a better battle stance. He then continues to talk to him and support him in what he wants to become.

Anyway I only wanted to make this post to thank Mr. Mako for the amount of entertainment he has given me over the course of watching Avatar. Uncle Iroh is easily one of my favourite characters throughout that cartoon and I can't imagine watching Avatar without his input. So here's to him....

And thank you Reddit, for reminding me of the anniversary of his death;