| Chiezō Kataoka | |
| Native Name: | 片岡 千恵蔵 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Birth Date: | 30 March 1903 |
| Birth Place: | Gunma Prefecture, Japan |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
| Occupation: | Film actor |
| Yearsactive: | 1912–1983 |
Masayoshi Ueki (植木 正義, Ueki Masayoshi; March 30, 1903 – March 31, 1983), known professionally as, was a Japanese film and television actor most famous for his starring roles in jidaigeki.
Born as Masayoshi Ueki in 1903, in Gunma Prefecture, he was raised in Tokyo. As a child he began training in Kabuki in a theatre troupe run by Kataoka Nizaemon XI, and appeared in one film in 1923.[1] He eventually entered the movie world for good in 1927 first at Makino Productions, but following the lead of other former Makino stars like Tsumasaburō Bandō, Chiezō started his own independent production company, Chiezō Productions, the next year. That studio became the longest lasting of the independent, star-centered productions, in part because it had such talented directors as Mansaku Itami and Hiroshi Inagaki, and produced such masterworks as Akanishi Kakita.[2] He folded the company in 1937 and joined Nikkatsu.
Specializing in jidaigeki, he played the lead in various films before and during World War II. During the Occupation of Japan, however, when Allied censors restricted the production of jidaigeki, Chiezō also appeared in a series of eleven films as Bannai Tarao, a modern era detective who is a master of disguise.[3] He eventually joined Toei, where he also served on the board of directors. Among his starring roles for Toei were eighteen films in which he played Tōyama no Kin-san[4] and a three-part Daibosatsu Tōge. Another role was in Akō Rōshi, a drama based on the Forty-seven Ronin. Later, he portrayed the father of Ōoka Tadasuke in the television series Ōoka Echizen. His career spanned six decades.
His son, Yoshiharu Ueki, a former pilot, was named the president of Japan Airlines in January 2012.[5]