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Ken Takakura

Ken Takakura

Actor · Born 1931-02-16 · Nakama, Fukuoka, Japan

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Biography

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-c…

Movies & TV Shows

  1. Black Rain (1989) — Masahiro
  2. The Yakuza (1974) — Tanaka Ken
  3. Mr. Baseball (1992) — Uchiyama
  4. Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005) — Gou-ichi Takata
  5. Too Late the Hero (1970) — Major Yamaguchi
  6. The Bullet Train (1975) — Tetsuo Okita
  7. Antarctica (1983) — Ushioda
  8. A Fugitive from the Past (1965) — Ajimura
  9. Railroad Man (1999) — Otomatsu Sato
  10. The Yellow Handkerchief (1977) — Yusaku Shima
  11. A Distant Cry from Spring (1980) — Kosaku Tajima
  12. 47 Ronin (1994) — Kuranosuke Oishi
  13. Manhunt (1976) — Morioka
  14. Golgo 13 (1973) — Duke Togo / Golgo 13
  15. Mount Hakkoda (1977) — Captain Tokushima
  16. Red Peony Gambler (1968) — Naoki Katagiri
  17. Dearest (2012) — Eiji Shimakura
  18. Station (1981) — Eiji Mikami
  19. Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro (1965) — Sasaki Kojiro
  20. Buddies (1989) — Kadokura
  21. Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple (1964) — Sasaki Kojiro
  22. Main Street in the Underworld (1964)
  23. Brutal Tales of Chivalry (1965) — Seiji Terajima
  24. Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of Two Sword Style (1963) — Sasaki Kojiro
  25. Never Give Up (1978) — Takeshi Ajisawa
  26. The Drifting Avenger (1968) — Ken Kato
  27. Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game (1969) — Shogo Hanaoka
  28. Abashiri Prison (1965) — Shinichi Tachibana
  29. An Outlaw (1964) — Minami
  30. Demon (1985) — Shuji
  31. Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo (1969) — Hanada Hidejiro
  32. Wolves, Pigs & Men (1964) — Jiro Kuroki, the second brother
  33. Patience Has An End (1971) — Isamu Tekada
  34. Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony (1969) — Koji Yashiro
  35. Winter's Flower (1978) — Hidetsugu Kano
  36. The Domain (1964)
  37. Flower, Storm and Gangster (1961) — 'Smiley' Ken
  38. The International Gang of Kobe (1975) — Masato Dan
  39. The Pledge (1972)
  40. Bloodiest Flower (1971)