Actress Patti Yasutake, 70, died of cancer on Aug. 5. She graduated with a theater degree from UCLA, but found that “There were really no opportunities to have a career as an Asian-American actress; I didn’t do martial arts, I didn’t speak a second language. Especially back then, that’s all they saw you as.” Yasutake worked with the East West Players and had a long theatrical career. She is probably best known as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa in Star Trek: The Next Generation; among her other TV shows and movies were Gung Ho, The Wash, ER, The Closer, Grey’s Anatomy, Bones, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Blind Spot. Of her recent role in Beef, Yasutake said, “It feels deeply gratifying that not only did I have the opportunity to participate in it, and we had such fun making it, but that the audiences are having such fun — I can’t even describe it. It’s just a thrill.”
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