Yukiye Kitahara

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Ex-Celebrity Wife
Fri Feb 23 2024
By   Binaya_22

Yukiye Kitahara is the ex-wife of the late actor Pat Morita. He is popularly known for playing everyone's favorite sensei, Mr. Miyagi, in the classic film, The Karate Kid. His estimated net worth at the time of his passing was $5 Million.

Morita married a total of three times in his life. Moreover, Kitahara was his second wife. His other two wives were Kathleen Yamachi and Evelyn Guerrero. She shares two kids with the actor named Tia Morita and Aly Morita

Yukiye Kitahara Is The Ex-Wife Of Mr. Miyagi

Yukiye Kitahara once found love in actor Pat Morita, but it was never meant to be. Their marriage ended in divorce in a few years. They walked down the aisle on December 28, 1970. The same year he divorced his first wife, Kathleen Yamachi. Their marriage came to an end around 19 years later, in 1989

Pat Morita is doing the iconic crane kick pose.
Yukiye Kitahara's late ex-husband, Pat Morita (Source: Heavy)

Kitahara and Morita have kept most things about their marriage to themselves. Both of them respected each other's privacy. She has also maintained a low-key life since the divorce, and records of her other relationships are nonexistent.

Net Worth Of Yukiye Kitahara & Her Ex-Husband

Yukiye Kitahara has preferred to not disclose anything about her life, and that includes her wealth. Her ex-husband, Pat Morita's net worth at the time of his death was $5 Million. So, she is living a lavish lifestyle and enjoys her ex-husband's net worth just like Kirbie Wallace.

Yukiye Kitahara spoke at Pat Morita's memorial.
Yukiye Kitahara spoke at Pat Morita's memorial. Source: Heavy

Morita's main source of income was acting. He worked on many movies and shows; his most famous work is easily The Karate Kid franchise. The first film in the franchise has made over $176.5 Million at the box office. 

Kitahara's ex-husband, Morita's other popular movies include Disney's Mulan, which made around $120.6 Million at the box office as per Rotten Tomatoes. He also worked as a comedian and made money in the early days of his career. 

The actor Pat lived in a two-storied house in Las Vegas, Nevada at the time of his death.

Yukiye Kitahara Shares Two Daughters With Morita

Yukiye Kitahara and her ex-husband, Pat Morita, had two daughters from their nineteen years of marriage. Their names are Tia Morita and Aly Morita. Both of the daughters live a low-key life and prefer to stay away from the limelight.

Aly Morita is wearing a black dress whereas Ralph Maccio is on a suit.
Yukiye Kitahara's daughter, Aly Morita with Ralph Maccio (Source: Rafu Shimpo)

But one thing that is known about Tia is that she works as a researcher, a completely different profession than her father's. Whereas, Aly Morita works as a writer and has written novels and short stories.

Aly is a bit vocal and present in the media compared to Kitahara's other daughter. She appeared in the media once when she demanded people avoid watching the 2010 Jackie Chan's The Karate Kid.

The Karate Kid was a remake of the classic film of Aly's father. Hyphen Magazine has reported that she believed the movie was stereotyping Asian Americans. 

What Caused The Death Of Yukiye Kitahara's Ex-Husband, Morita?

Yukiye Kitahara's ex-husband, Morita, died on November 24, 2005, at the age of 73. It is still unsure what caused the death of The Karate Kid actor. Both heart and kidney failure have been blamed for the end of Mr. Miyagi.

Metro has reported in their article that the problem in figuring out Morita's death cause happened after the different statements given by his daughter and Manager.

The article says that his daughter Aly blamed heart failure for his death. But his manager, Arnold Soloway, blamed kidney failure for Kitahara's husband's death.

Morita's Other Marriages

Yukiye Kitahara's late husband, Pate Morita, was involved in three marriages throughout his life. He was married to someone before meeting her and also to someone after divorcing her. Their names are Kathleen Yamachi and Evelyn Guerrero

Yamachi was the first woman Morita tied the knot with. They were married from June 13, 1953, till 1970. The two also share a daughter named Erin Morita, who was born the following year of their marriage in 1954. Guerrero was his wife at the time of his death. They were husband and wife from March 26, 1994, till November 24, 2005

Pat Morita and Evelyn Guerrero are hugging each other in the picture.
Late Pat Morita with his wife, Evelyn Guerrero (Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Morita was younger than his first wife by six years. He was 21 years old when he married 27-year-old Yamachi. Guerrero is a former actress and she has worked in a lot of films and TV shows like Bound by Honor, Nice Dreams, and Inferno. She also worked as an additional crew in her late husband's movie, The Next Karate Kid.

Morita's Early Life Was Filled With Struggle

Baywatch actor Pat Morita had to deal with a lot as a little child. But, the two worst things that possibly happened to him were suffering from spinal tuberculosis and being forced to live in an Arizona internment concentration camp.

Morita and his family faced many struggles after the United States and Japan went to war. The war forced him and his family to live in concentration camps. 

Kitahara's ex-husband was just a kid when it happened. He could return to living normally after the war was over. But living in camps for that long at such a young age had a tremendous impact on his mental health.

But Morita, who played the sensei of Ralph Maccio in The Karate Kid's struggle had already begun before the war. He developed tuberculosis in his spine when he was only two years old. 

The situation was so bad at one point it looked like he couldn't walk again. But he overcame all the difficulties life threw at him, like his iconic Mr. Miyagi character. 

A Bit On Yukiye Kitahara's Ex-Husband Career

Morita is an actor whose role as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid is enough to cement his legacy. But he is more than just a sensei. The actor's initial job in the entertainment industry was as a comedian. Before, he switched to doing movies.

Mulan II actor Morita started in the industry in 1967. His big break happened with the TV show Happy Days in 1975. However, his prominent role as Mr. Miyagi arrived in 1984 with The Karate Kid, the role for which he was even nominated for an Oscar. You might want to learn about William Zabka, who played one of the leading roles in The Karate Kid.

Yukiye Kitahara's Ex-Husband's Alcohol Problem

Yukiye Kitahara's ex-husband, Pat Morita, dealt with the issue of alcohol for most of his life. He started drinking when he was only 12 years old. And that caused a lot of problems in his life, including his relationships.

It is unclear if alcohol was why Yuki Kitahara's marriage with Morita fell apart. But alcohol did ruin his finances and life, and was even unemployed at one point. The story of his alcohol issue has also been brought up in his documentary, More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story.

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