Jack Soo was born Goro Suzuki on a ship traveling in the Pacific Ocean from the United States to Japan on October 28, 1917.

[2] Soo's career as an entertainer began in earnest at the end of the war, first as a stand-up nightclub performer primarily in the Midwestern United States.

[5] His big break occurred in 1958 when he was cast in the Broadway musical hit Flower Drum Song in the role of the show master of ceremonies and comedian Frankie Wing ("Gliding through my memoree").

Soo had been working in San Francisco at the Forbidden City, a Chinese nightclub and cabaret, where he was discovered by the actor and dancer Gene Kelly who was the director for Flower Drum Song.

[7] In 1964, Soo played a weekly supporting role as Rocky Sin, a poker-playing con artist in Valentine's Day, a comedy television series starring Anthony Franciosa that lasted for one season.

[8] During the next decade, he appeared in films such as The Green Berets as a colonel of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and the 1967 musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as making guest appearances on TV shows such as Hawaii Five-O, The Odd Couple, and two episodes of M*A*S*H. Soo joined Motown Records in 1965 as one of their first non-African-American musicians.

[1] Soo, a smoker, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer during Barney Miller's fourth season (1977–1978), missing the last five episodes.