Acting
Ken Takakura
JA, EN, ZH cinema · 197 credits
Born
16 February 1931
Died
10 November 2014 (aged 83)
Birthplace
Nakama, Fukuoka, Japan
Also known as Goichi Oda · 高仓健 · Кэн Такакура · کن تاکاکورا · 小田剛一 · Takeichi Oda
Ken Takakura (高倉 健, Takakura Ken), born Gouichi Oda (February 16, 1931, in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan), was a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brings to his roles. Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka. This subject was covered in one of his most famous movies, Showa Zankyo-den (Remnants of Chivalry in the Showa Era), in which he played an honorable old-school yakuza among the violent post-war gurentai. A graduate of Meiji University in Tokyo Takakura happened by an audition in 1955 at the Toei Film Company, and decided to look in. Toei found a natural in Takakura as he debuted with Denko Karate Uchi (Lightning Karate Blow) in 1956. Japan experienced a boom in gangster films in the 1960s as the Japanese people struggled with the generational differences between those raised in pre-war and post-war Japan and these were Takakura's stock and trade. His breakout role would be in the 1965 film Abashiri Prison, and its sequel Abashiri Bangaichi: Bokyohen (Abashiri Prison: Longing for Home, also 1965), in which he played an ex-con antihero. By the time Takakura would leave Toei in 1976, he had appeared in over 180 films. Takakura gained international recognition after starring in the 1970 war film Too Late the Hero as the cunning Imperial Japanese Major Yamaguchi, the 1975 Sydney Pollack sleeper hit The Yakuza with Robert Mitchum and is probably best known in the West for his role in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989) where he surprises American cops played by Michael Douglas and Andy García with the line, "I do speak fucking English". He again proved himself bankable to Western audiences with the 1992 Fred Schepisi comedy Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck. While he has slowed down a bit in his older years, he is still active. His most recent film was the 2005 Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles by Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ken Takakura, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Filmography
Ken San
as Self
Dearest
as Eiji Shimakura
Black Rain: Making The Film
as Self (archive footage)
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
as Gou-ichi Takata
The Firefly
as Yamaoka Shuji
Railroad Man
as Otomatsu Sato
47 Ronin
as Kuranosuke Oishi
Mr. Baseball
as Uchiyama
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
as Self (archive footage)
Black Rain
as Masahiro
Buddies
as Kadokura
Umi e, See You
as Eiji Honma
Demon
as Shuji
Antarctica
as Ushioda
Choji Snack Bar
as Eiji
The Longest Tunnel
as Go Akutsu
Karate Cop
as Detective Mikami
Station
as Eiji Mikami
A Distant Cry from Spring
as Kosaku Tajima
The Revolt
as Keisuke Miyagi
Never Give Up
as Takeshi Ajisawa
Winter's Flower
as Hidetsugu Kano
The Yellow Handkerchief
as Yusaku Shima
Mount Hakkoda
as Captain Tokushima
Manhunt
as Morioka
The Bullet Train
as Tetsuo Okita
The International Gang of Kobe
as Masato Dan
Great Jailbreak
as Ichiro Kozue
The Yakuza
as Tanaka Ken
The Homeless
as Jokichi Anabuki
Golgo 13
as Duke Togo / Golgo 13
Yakuza of the Present
as Ryoichi Shimaya
Japan's Top Gangster
as Kazuo Taoka
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
as Kuramoto
The Man
Actor
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love
as Hidejiro Hanada
The Path of the King
as Ryutaro Fudo
Patience Has An End
as Isamu Tekada
Dagger
Actor
Too Late the Hero
as Major Yamaguchi
The Last Kamikaze
as Koji Yashiro
Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game
as Shogo Hanaoka
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
as Hanada Hidejiro
Samurai Geisha
as Shimada Seikichi
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
as Kingoro Tamai
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
as Saburo Aizawa
Gambler's Legacy
as Tsukuda Ginjiro
Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony
as Koji Yashiro
The Biggest Gamble
as Shuzo Honjo
Rogue
as Isamu Oba
Red Peony Gambler
as Naoki Katagiri
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
as Katsuji Suehiro
The Drifting Avenger
as Ken Kato
Classmates
as First Lieutenant Kenmochi
The Chivalrous Life
as Ryuma Ibuki
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
as Shin-ichi Tachibana
Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil
as Shin-ichi Tachibana
The Kamikaze Guy
as Fumio Kuroki
Glorious Fights
as Ichiro Takita
Tokyo Untouchable
as Yoshio Harada
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
as Sasaki Kojiro
A Fugitive from the Past
as Ajimura
Brutal Tales of Chivalry
as Seiji Terajima
Abashiri Prison
as Shinichi Tachibana
Prison Walls of Abashiri 4
as Shin'ichi Tachibana
Prison Walls of Abashiri 3
as Shinichi Tachibana
Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2
as Shinichi Tachibana
The Boss
Actor
An Outlaw
as Minami
Wolves, Pigs & Men
as Jiro Kuroki, the second brother
Jakoman and Tetsu
as Tetsu
Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple
as Sasaki Kojiro
Tokyo Untouchable: Escape
as Yoshio Harada
Eleven Gangsters
as Sawagami
Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of Two Sword Style
as Sasaki Kojiro
Tales of President Mito
as Sukesaburo Sasa
Song of Kagoshima
as Shuhei Tategami
Lady Sen and Hideyori
as Naomori
Flower, Storm and Gangster
as 'Smiley' Ken
Devil's Nursery Rhyme
as Kosuke Kindaichi
Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san
as Kenichi Oka
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4
as Kenichi Hanamura
Four Hours of Terror
as Captain Yamamoto
The Bastards of Lawless Town
as Fumio Sone
The Outsiders
as Ichitaro Kazamori
Sister with Sister
as Hiroshi Ishioka
Beyond the Seasonal Wind
as Mr. Kōda
Men Fighting Whales
as Yosuke Yamagami
Jet Air Base 101
as Jiro Nakata
Manchurian Sunset
as Shintaro
恐怖の空中殺人
as 島田寿夫