Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who is known for his roles in Mortal Kombat and Memoirs of a Geisha , has passed away at 75.

Deadline confirmed that the actor died from complications following a stroke on Thursday (December 4, 2025). He was surrounded by his family when he passed.

To general audiences, Tagawa was most widely recognized as Shang Tsung, the dark sorcerer he portrayed across numerous Mortal Kombat projects in film, television, and video games. He first took on the role in New Line’s 1995 movie and returned two years later for Mortal Kombat: Annihilation .

The actor later revisited the character with appearances in the 2013 series Mortal Kombat: Legacy and a 2015 episode of Mortal Kombat X: Generations . He went on to voice Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat 11 (2

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