Pat Suzuki

Pat Suzuki (born Chiyoko Suzuki; September 22, 1930) is an American popular singer and actress, who is best known for her role in the original Broadway production of the musical Flower Drum Song, and her performance of the song "I Enjoy Being a Girl" in the show. Early life Suzuki is a Nisei or second-generation Japanese American, and was born Chiyoko Suzuki, to Chiyosaku and Aki Suzuki, as the fourth of their four daughters. Aki was a musician who played traditional Japanese instruments. When Suzuki was growing up, she was nicknamed "Chibi", which is Japanese for 'short person' or 'small child', as the youngest sister. Suzuki lived with her family in Cressey, California. In February 1942, a few months after the United States entered World War II, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. Under XO 9066, the Suzuki family and more than 110,000 other Japanese American residents of the U.S. Pacific coast states were forced to evacuate their homes and enter American internment camps. The Suzukis were sent to the Merced Assembly Center and later, the Granada War Relocation Center in Colorado. The Suzuki family left Granada to work on a sugar beet farm and returned to California after the war. During the early 1950s, Suzuki attended five colleges, and graduated from San Jose State University, earning teaching credentials for elementary and secondary schools. After deciding against a career in education, she decided to travel to Europe, but ran out of money in New York, so she obtained a part in a touring production of the play, The Teahouse of the August Moon.