Tomisaburo Wakayama Explained

Tomisaburō Wakayama
Birth Name:Masaru Okumura
Birth Date:1 September 1929
Birth Place:Fukagawa, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Death Place:Kyoto, Japan
Occupation:Actor
Yearsactive:1955–1991
Spouse:Reiko Fujiwara (1963–1965)

, born Masaru Okumura (奥村 勝),[1] was a Japanese actor best known for playing Ogami Ittō, the scowling ronin warrior in the six Lone Wolf and Cub samurai films.[1] [2]

Biography

Wakayama (his stage name)[3] was born on September 1, 1929, in Fukagawa, a district in Tokyo, Japan.[1] His father was Minoru Okumura (奥村 実), a noted kabuki performer and nagauta singer who went by the stage name Katsutōji Kineya (杵屋 勝東治),[4] [1] and the family as a whole were kabuki performers. He and his younger brother, Shintaro Katsu, followed their father in the theater.[1] Wakayama tired of this; at the age of 13, he began to study judo, eventually achieving the rank of 4th dan black belt in the art.[1]

In 1952, as part of the Azuma Kabuki troupe, Wakayama toured the United States of America for nine months.[2] He gave up theater performance completely after his two-year term with the troupe was over.[1] Wakayama taught judo until Toho recruited him as a new martial arts star in their jidaigeki movies,[1] originally using the stage name "Jō Kenzaburō". He prepared for these movies by practicing other disciplines, including kenpō, iaidō, kendo, and bōjutsu.[1] All this helped him for roles (now using the stage name "Wakayama Tomisaburō") in the television series The Mute Samurai,[4] the 1975 television series Shokin Kasegi (The Bounty Hunter),[4] and his most famous film role: Ogami Ittō, the Lone Wolf.

Wakayama went on to star in many films, performing in a variety of roles. It has been estimated that he appeared in between 250 and 500 films.[4] His only roles in American movies were as a baseball coach in The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978) and as a yakuza boss, Sugai, in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989) that delivers a memorable English monologue that becomes a defining moment for the film, and the film's title.[4] [5]

Wakayama died of acute heart failure on April 2, 1992, in a hospital in Kyoto.[1] [4] He was survived by a son, Kiichirō Wakayama (若山 騎一郎) born in 1964, also an actor.[6]

Filmography

Film

Wakayama appeared in the following films, amongst others.

1955–1959

1960-1969

1970–1979

1980–1989

1990

Television

Notes and References

  1. Leous, G. (c. 2003): Tomisaburo Wakayama Retrieved on May 23, 2010.
  2. Stout, J. (1981): "Tomisaburo Wakayama: The Anti-Hero of Shogun Assassin." Martial Arts Movies (August), 1(2):26–33.
  3. Lame d'un père, l'âme d'un sabre (2005). Wild Side Films. Event occurs at 34.
  4. http://www.asiateca.net/?p=971 Asiateca: Tomisaburo Wakayama
  5. Book: Nash. Jay Robert. Ross. Stanley R.. The Motion Picture Guide 1990 Annual The Films of 1989. 1990. Cinebooks. 978-0-933997-29-5 .
  6. http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/100331/gna1003310511000-n1.htm Sankei Sports: 若山騎一郎＆仁美凌、熱愛発覚！交際５年
  7. Book: Cowie, Peter. World Filmography 1967. 1977. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. 978-0-498-01565-6. 342 .
  8. http://www.brns.com/japan/pages1/japan29.html Hong Kong Cinema: Red Peony Gambler
  9. Book: Desjardins, Chris. Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film. 2005. I B Tauris & Company Limited. 978-1-84511-086-4. 8 .
  10. Book: Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide. 2005. 978-0-452-28699-3. registration.
  11. Book: Palmer, Bill. The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies. 1995. Rowman & Littlefield. 978-0-8108-3027-1 .
  12. Book: Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2003. 2002. Plume. 978-0-452-28329-9 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tomisaburo Wakayama".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.