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Photo of Isuzu Yamada

Isuzu Yamada

Actor
Born February 5, 1917Died July 9, 2012 (95 years)
Isuzu Yamada (山田 五十鈴, Yamada Isuzu, 5 February 1917 – 9 July 2012) was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades.

Yamada was born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada, the daughter of Kusudu Yamada, a shinpa actor specialising in onnagata roles, and Ritsu, a geisha. Yamada debuted as a film actress in 1930 at age twelve, appearing in the Nikkatsu film Tsurugi wo koete. She soon became one of Nikkatsu's top actresses, but it was her portrayals of strong-willed modern girls in Kenji Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion in 1936 at the new Daiichi Eiga studio that earned her popularity and critical acclaim. Moving to Shinkō Kinema and then to Toho, she became a star with Mikio Naruse's Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro (1938).

During the second half of the 1950s, Yamada's main attention shifted towards the stage, but she still appeared in a number of distinguished films like Naruse's Flowing (1956), Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Twilight (1957) and Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths (1957) and Throne of Blood (1957). Other directors she worked with during this decade include Keisuke Kinoshita, Kaneto Shindō and Shirō Toyoda. In addition to her theatre engagements, she appeared on television, including the long-running Hissatsu series. Her last TV appearance was in 2002.

Yamada died from multiple organ failure in Tokyo on 9 July 2012 at the age of 95. She was married four times, to actor Ichirō Tsukita, to producer Kazuo Takimura, to actor Yoshi Katō, and to actor Tsutomu Shimomoto. Her daughter with Tsukita, Michiko, became known as the actress Michiko Saga (1935–1992).

Description above from the Wikipedia article Isuzu Yamada, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia​

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Throne of Blood
  • Tokyo Twilight
  • Sisters of the Gion
  • Osaka Elegy
  • Oyuki the Virgin

Known For

  • Yojimbo
  • Throne of Blood
  • Sisters of the Gion
  • The Lower Depths
  • Osaka Elegy
  • Tokyo Twilight
  • Hiroshima
  • Flowing
  • Oyuki the Virgin
  • Black River
  • The Famous Sword Bijomaru
  • The Lovelorn Geisha
  • Burden of Love
  • A Cat and Two Women
  • Farewell to Dream
  • The Littlest Warrior
  • Daredevil in the Castle
  • Five Men of Edo
  • Son

Filmography

2001
The Scottish Play · as Lady Asaji Washizu
1985
1984
1982
Suspicion · as Tokie Horiuchi
1981
新必殺仕事人 (TV Series)
1979
Hissatsu Shigotonin (TV Series) · as Otowa
1978
1975
1962
1962
The Great Wall · as Dowager Empress
1961
Buddha · as Kalideva
1961
1961
The Littlest Warrior · as Yashio (voice)
1961
Yojimbo · as Orin
1961
1960
1960
Son · as Sei
1958
Shiki no aiyoku · as Urako
1957
Black River · as Landlady
1957
The Lower Depths · as Osugi The Landlady
1957
Tokyo Twilight · as Kisako Soma
1957
Throne of Blood · as Lady Asaji Washizu
1956
Flowing · as Otsuta
1956
A Cat and Two Women · as Shinako
1956
Farewell to Dream · as Seiji's Mother, Kiyo
1955
1955
Burden of Love · as Some Kaita
1955
1954
1954
Three Loves · as Mother
1953
Hiroshima · as Mineh Obah
1953
1953
Epitome · as Tamiko
1953
1952
1952
1951
Five Men of Edo · as Okane, Chobei's Wife
1951
Fireworks Over the Sea · as Kaoru Uozumi
1950
Tateshi Danpei · as Oharu
1945
The Famous Sword Bijomaru · as Sasae Onoda
1944
1943
The Song Lantern · as O-Sode
1938
Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro · as Tsuruhachi
1936
1936
Osaka Elegy · as Ayako Murai
1935
1935
1932

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