Pat and Evelyn Morita Marriage Profile

By Sheri & Bob Stritof, About.com Guides

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A photo of actor Pat Morita and his wife Evelyn Guerrero is displayed during a memorial service for him at the Palm Mortuary & Memorial Park November 30, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Pat and Evelyn Morita were married for 12 years before his death on November 24, 2005. There is minimal and conflicting information about Pat's death, his marriage to Evelyn, his children, his previous marriages, and where he and his family spent time in Japanese-American internment camps.

Here's what we were able to verify about their marriage and his life.

Born:

Evelyn (Evie) Louise Guerrero: February 24, 1949 in East Los Angeles, California.

Noriyuki Pat Morita: June 28, 1932 in Isleton, California.
Source: Almanac of Famous People, 8th ed. Gale Group, 2003.

Died:

Pat Morita: According to his wife, Evelyn, Morita's death at age 73 at his home in Las Vegas, on November 24, 2005, was due to natural causes.

However, his daughter Aly said he died at a local hospital due to heart failure. His manager, Arnold Soloway, said that Pat was awaiting a kidney transplant when he died of kidney failure at a local hospital.

Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Las Vegas planned memorial services for Pat Morita. Pat was buried at Palm Green Valley Mortuary and Cemetery in Las Vegas, Nevada.

How Pat and Evelyn Met:

Evelyn and Pat first met when she was 15 years old because Evelyn's mother and Pat had the same manager, Sally Marr. Years later, Pat and Evelyn met again.

Wedding Date:

The wedding date of Pat and Evelyn has also been reported with conflicting dates. According to the Marriage Inquiry System of Clark County, Nevada, Patrick N. Morita and Evelyn Louise Guerrero were married in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 26, 1994.

Residence:

Pat and Evelyn lived in Las Vegas, just 5 minutes from the Strip. Although they gave up their Ala Moana apartment in Waikiki, they said they still loved Hawaii.

Health Issues:

Pat suffered from spinal tuberculosis since the age of two. He was hospitalized for nine years at the Weimar Joint Sanatorium in Colfax, California. Pat was bedridden in a body-cast from his shoulders to his knees and unable to walk. He was transferred to the Shriner's Hospital in San Francisco where he received surgery to fuse four vertebrae in his spine. After having the surgery, Pat proved the earlier doctors wrong by walking out of the hospital when he was 11 years old.

Pat went from the hospital directly to the Gila River internment Center in Arizona. Later during WWII, Pat's family was transferred to the Tule Lake Internment Camp in California.

Occupations:

Pat: Early in his life, Pat Morita worked as a part-time fruit picker. He also worked in his family's Sacramento Chinese restaurant, the "Ariake Chop Suey" as an emcee for large parties. Later, he worked as a data processor for the State of California and at Aerojet-General Corporation near Sacramento.

In the early 1960s Pat started his career as a stand up comedian known as The Hip Nip. He performed in nightclubs and bars. His career evolved into being an actor in both films and television. He also did voice over work in animated features and was a screenwriter.

Evelyn: Actress.

Children:

Pat and Evelyn did not have any children. Pat had three daughters from his previous marriages:

Erin Morita: Born abt. 1954. Her mother is Kathleen Yamachi.
Aly Morita: Her mother is Yuki Morita.
Tia Morita: Her mother is Yuki Morita.

Previous Marriages:

Pat Morita had two previous marriages:

Kathleen Yamachi: Pat's marriage on June 13, 1953 to Kathleen Yamachi was soon after he finished high school. They had one daughter and were married for 14 years before they divorced in 1967. Reportedly his decision to quit his job and become a stand-up comedian destroyed his marriage to Kathleen.

Yukiye Kitahara: Pat married Yuki on December 28, 1970. They had two daughters. The couple had to deal with several setbacks during their marriage.
- First, their $300,000, uninsured, Tarzana, California home was badly damaged in a mudslide. They and their daughters escaped with just the clothes they were wearing.
- Second, Tia, their youngest daughter, was diagnosed with a kidney disease.
- Third, in 1980, Pat and Yuki separated, and Pat moved to Hawaii. In 1982, they reunited, but later divorced in 1989.
Yuki, a community organizer, married Cedric Scott after her divorce from Pat. She and Cedric had a daughter, LaGloria Scott.

Quotes About the Marriages of Pat Morita:

Pat on love: "I don’t know of any other creature, outside of pure animal lust, that falls in love and has their heart broken and falls in love again.”
Source: "A Conversation with Pat Morita". Homesalerealty.com.

Pat on deciding to be a comedian: "It was absolutely nutty, against the grain of the family, every wrong you could have picked."
Source: "Interview." Detroit Free Press. 01/01/1988.

Charles Goodin, on Pat's first marriage: "So, despite having a good job with security, a four-bedroom home and a wife, child, mother-in-law and three household pets depending on him, he decided that he wanted something more out of life."
Source: Charles C. Goodin. "Noriyuki Pat Morita: In the Footsteps of a Sensei." Furyu.com. 1999. Issue 6.