You might not immediately recognize Patti Yasutake‘s name, but you’ve almost certainly seen her on screen. On TV she’s appeared in Beef, Grey’s Anatomy, Boston Legal, and ER, and in theaters we’ve seen her in Drop Dead Gorgeous, Dangerous Intentions, and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!
But she’s best known for playing Nurse Ogawa in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and reprised the roles in the Star Trek feature films Generations and First Contact. So, naturally, Star Trek fans have taken to social media to post tributes after the sad news of her death at the age of 70:
Yasutake’s final role was in Netflix’s hit show Beef, where she played the mother-in-law of Ali Wong’s Amy, and was hilarious as a judgmental grandmother who’s clearly never worked a day in her life and ends up wielding a shotgun against burglars after breaking into her son’s home. It was a fine role to go out on – but what were the exact circumstances of Yasutake’s death?
A long battle with illness
Yasutake’s obituary states that she “passed away peacefully on Sunday surrounded by friends and family after a long brave battle with cancer.” More specifically, she was suffering from a rare form of T-cell lymphoma, which results in blood and lymph tumors. It’s unknown when she received this diagnosis, but given that we’re told it was a “long” battle we can presume she was dealing with the condition for some time before her death.
Yasutake died at the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center. Her family has invited fans to a memorial at East West Players 120 N Judge Aiso Street LA 90012. If you attend don’t bring flowers as the family would prefer you donate to Asian-American theater company East West Players.
RIP Patti Yasutake.