Isuzu Yamada

Isuzu Yamada (山田 五十鈴, Yamada Isuzu, 5 February 1917 – 9 July 2012) was a Japanese actress whose career on stage and screen spanned eight decades.

Isuzu Yamada
山田 五十鈴
Isuzu Yamada in 1937
Born
Mitsu Yamada

(1917-02-05)5 February 1917
Osaka, Japan
Died9 July 2012(2012-07-09) (aged 95)
Tokyo
OccupationActress
Years active1930–2002

Early life

Yamada was born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada.[1] Her father, Kusuo Yamada, was a shinpa stage actor specializing in onnagata roles and her mother, Ritsu, was a geisha.[1][2] Her family was poor, but under her mother's influence, she began learning nagauta and Japanese traditional dance from the age of six.[3]

Career

Yamada debuted as a film actress in 1930 at age twelve, appearing in a Nikkatsu film, Ken o Koete, opposite Denjirō Ōkōchi.[2] She soon became one of Nikkatsu's top actresses,[4] but it was her strong portrayals of two rebellious 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.[2] Moving to Shinkō Kinema and then to Toho, she starred in a series of films with Kazuo Hasegawa, such as Mikio Naruse's Tsuruhachi Tsurujirō (1938) and Masahiro Makino's Kinō Kieta Otoko (1941), that made her a major star.[1]

Yamada appeared in the films of many of the Japanese directors, including Yasujirō Ozu for Tokyo Twilight (1957) and Akira Kurosawa for The Lower Depths (1957), Throne of Blood (1957) and Yojimbo (1961).[5]

From the mid-1950s, she appeared more and more on stage and on television,[2] including the Hissatsu series.[6]

Personal life

Yamada was married four times, first to the actor Ichirō Tsukita, second to the producer Kazuo Takimura, third to the actor Yoshi Katō, and fourth to the actor Tsutomu Shimomoto.[4] Her daughter with Tsukita, Michiko, became famous as the actress Michiko Saga.[1]

Death

Yamada died from multiple organ failure in Tokyo on 9 July 2012 at the age of 95.[7][8]

Awards

Yamada earned numerous accolades during her long career. She earned double honors, a Blue Ribbon Award and a Mainichi Film Award for best actress, two times: in 1952 for Gendai-jin and Hakone Fūunroku,[9][10] and in 1956 for Boshizō, Neko to Shōzō to Futari no Onna, and Nagareru.[11][12] She also won a Blue Ribbon Award for best supporting actress in 1955 for Takekurabe and Ishigassen.[13] She received a Special Award from the Chairman of the Japan Academy in 1995 in honor of her lifetime achievements in cinema.[14] For her work on stage, she has been awarded the Grand Prize (Taishō) three times from the Agency for Cultural Affairs's Arts Festival (Geijutsusai) for the plays Tanuki (1974), Aizome Takao (1977), and Daiyu-san (1983).[15]

She was named a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 1993[4] and became the first actress to receive the illustrious Order of Culture from the Emperor of Japan in 2000.[3][16][17] The Order of Culture is considered Japan's "top cultural award."[18]

Filmography

Film
Isuzu with Chiezō Kataoka in 1932
Year Title Role Director Notes
1930 Ken o Koete Okayo Kunio Watanabe Debut role
1934 Aizō Tōge Kenji Mizoguchi Lost[19]
1935 Orizuru Osen Osen Kenji Mizoguchi
1936 Osaka Elegy Ayako Murai Kenji Mizoguchi
Sisters of the Gion Younger sister Omocha Kenji Mizoguchi
1938 Tsuruhachi Tsurujirō Tsuruhachi Mikio Naruse
1941 Kinō Kieta Otoko Kotomi Masahiro Makino
1946 Aru yo no Tonosama Omitsu Teinosuke Kinugasa
1951 Home Sweet Home Namiko Uemura Noboru Nakamura
1952 Gendai-jin Minoru Shibuya
Hakone Fūunroku Ritsu Satsuo Yamamoto/Kiyoshi Kusuda/Tetsujin Kosaka
1953 Epitome Tamiko Kaneto Shindo
1954 Tōjin Okichi Tōjin Okichi Mitsuo Wakasugi
1955 Takekurabe Okichi Heinosuke Gosho
Christ in Bronze Kimika Minoru Shibuya
1956 Boshizō Yukiko Izumi Kiyoshi Saeki
Neko to Shōzō to Futari no Onna First wife Shirō Toyoda
Nagareru Tsutaya Mikio Naruse
1957 Throne of Blood Lady Asaji Washizu Akira Kurosawa
Black River Mikiko Masaki Kobayashi
Tokyo Twilight Kikuko Yasujirō Ozu
The Lower Depths Osugi Akira Kurosawa
1961 The Littlest Warrior Yashio Taiji Yabushita/Yūgo Serikawa Voice
Yojimbo Orin Akira Kurosawa
The Story of Osaka Castle Yodogimi Hiroshi Inagaki [20]
1975 Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director Herself Kaneto Shindo
1978 Shogun's Samurai Oeyo Kinji Fukasaku
1982 Suspicion Tokie Horiuchi Yoshitarō Nomura
1984 Hissatsu: Sure Death Oriku Masahisa Sadanaga Hissatsu series

Television
Year Title Role Network Notes
1964 Akō Rōshi Riku NHK Taiga drama
1966 Minamoto no Yoshitsune Tokiwa Gozen NHK Taiga drama
1977–78 Shin Hissatsu Karakurinin Oen ABC Hissatsu series
1978 Hissatsu Karakurinin Fugakuhiyakkei Koroshitabi Oen ABC Hissatsu series
1979–81 Hissatsu Shigotonin Otowa ABC Hissatsu series
1981–82 Shin Hissatsu Shigotonin Oriku ABC Hissatsu series
1982–83 Hissatsu Shigotonin III Oriku ABC Hissatsu series
1983 Ōoku Yuri (Jōen-in) CX
1984 Hissatsu Shigotonin IV Oriku ABC Hissatsu series
1985 Hissatsu Shigotonin V Oriku ABC Hissatsu series
2000 Aoi Tokugawa Sandai Odai no Kata NHK Taiga drama
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References
  1. "Yamada Isuzu". Nihon jinmei daijiten + Plus (in Japanese). Kōdansha. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  2. "Yamada Isuzu-san in Bunka Kunshō juyo". Theater Guide Online (in Japanese). 27 October 2000. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  3. Iwamoto, Nao (2003). "Saigo no daijoyū Yamada Isuzu". Noa's Room (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  4. "Yamada Isuzu keizu". Kingendai keizu wārudo (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  5. Bergan, Ronald (11 July 2012). "Isuzu Yamada obituary". The Guardian.
  6. Schilling, Mark (9 July 2012). "Japanese silent movie star dies – Variety". Variety.
  7. "Yamada Isuzu-san shikyo". Supōtsu Hōchi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  8. Lim, Dennis (16 July 2012). "Isuzu Yamada, Actress Who Worked With Kurosawa, Dies at 95". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  9. "Burū Ribon shō hisutorī 1952". Cinema Hōchi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  10. "Mainichi Konkūru ni tsuite 1952". Mainichi Film Awards (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  11. "Burū Ribon shō hisutorī 1956". Cinema Hōchi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  12. "Mainichi Konkūru ni tsuite 1956". Mainichi Film Awards (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  13. "Burū Ribon shō hisutorī 1955". Cinema Hōchi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  14. "Dai 18-kai Nihon Akademī Shō yūshū sakuhin" (in Japanese). Japan Academy Prize. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  15. "Bunkachō Geijutsusaishō jushō ichiran" (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  16. "Nobel chemist to get Order of Culture". The Japan Times. 25 October 2000.
  17. Matsui, Makoto (9 February 2010). ""Haha" Yamada Isuzu to no fukai kizuna". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  18. "2 Nobel laureates among 7 recipients of year's top culture award". Japan Today. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  19. Bock, Audie (1978). Japanese Film Directors. Kodansha. p. 65. ISBN 0-87011-304-6.
  20. Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
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