KT
Photo of Ken Takakura

Ken Takakura

Actor
Died November 10, 2014 (83 years)
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.
Movies & Shows on Plex
  • Too Late the Hero
  • Golgo 13
Known For
  • Black Rain
  • Mr. Baseball
  • Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
  • The Yakuza
  • Antarctica
  • Bullet Train
  • Railroad Man
  • The Yellow Handkerchief
  • A Distant Cry from Spring
  • Manhunt
  • 47 Ronin
  • Dearest
  • Golgo 13
  • Abashiri Prison
  • Station
  • Yasha
  • Brutal Tales of Chivalry
  • Wolves, Pigs and People
  • Never Give Up
  • Winter's Flower
  • The Valiant Red Peony
  • Buddies
  • Red Peony Gambler 3: The Flower Cards Game
  • An Outlaw

Filmography

2012
Dearest · as Eiji Shimakura
2005
2001
The Firefly · as Yamaoka Shuji
1999
Railroad Man · as Otomatsu Sato
1996
The World Heritage (TV Series) · as Narration
1994
47 Ronin · as Kuranosuke Oishi
1992
Mr. Baseball · as Uchiyama
1989
Buddies · as Kadokura
1989
Black Rain · as Masahiro
1988
1985
Yasha · as Shuji
1983
Choji Snack Bar · as Eiji
1983
Antarctica · as Ushioda
1982
Kaikyô · as Go Akutsu
1982
Keiji monogatari · as Detective Mikami
1981
Station · as Eiji Mikami
1980
A Distant Cry from Spring · as Kosaku Tajima
1980
Dôran · as Keisuke Miyagi
1978
Never Give Up · as Takeshi Ajisawa
1978
Winter's Flower · as Hidetsugu Kano
1977
The Yellow Handkerchief · as Yusaku Shima
1977
Hakkodasan · as Captain Tokushima
1976
Manhunt · as Morioka
1976
Wild Detective · as Cast
1975
Kobe Kokusai Gang · as Masato Dan
1975
Bullet Train · as Tetsuo Okita
1975
Great Jailbreak · as Ichiro Kozue
1975
1974
The Yakuza · as Tanaka Ken
1974
The Homeless · as Jokichi Anabuki
1974
1973
Golgo 13 · as Duke Togo / Golgo 13
1973
Gendai ninkyô-shi · as Ryoichi Shimaya
1973
Yamaguchi-gumi San-daime · as Kazuo Taoka
1972
1972
1972
1972
1972
1971
1971
1971
Showa zankyo-den: hoero karajishi · as Hidejiro Hanada
1971
1971
Gorotsuki mushuku · as Isamu Tekada
1971
1971
1970
1970
1970
Saigo no tokkôtai · as Koji Yashiro
1970
1970
1970
Too Late the Hero · as Major Yamaguchi
1970
1970
1969
1969
Gambler's Legacy · as Tsukuda Ginjiro
1969
1969
Nihon ansatsu hiroku · as Saburo Aizawa
1969
Sengo Saidai no Toba · as Shuzo Honjo
1969
1969
Chivalrous Geisha · as Shimada Seikichi
1969
Nihon kyokaku-den: hana to ryu · as Kingoro Tamai
1969
1969
1969
1968
Shin Abashiri Bangaichi · as Katsuji Suehiro
1968
1968
1968
Gorotsuki · as Isamu Oba
1968
The Valiant Red Peony · as Naoki Katagiri
1968
1968
The Drifting Avenger · as Ken Kato
1968
1967
Abashiri bangaichi: Fubuki no tôsô · as Shin-Ichi Tachibana
1967
1967
Abashiri bangai chi: Aku e no chôsen · as Shin-Ichi Tachibana
1967
1967
Âa dôki no sakura · as First Lieutenant Kenmochi
1967
The Chivalrous Life · as Ryuma Ibuki
1967
1967
1966
1966
1966
1966
1966
1966
1966
1966
1966
1965
Abashiri bangaichi: Hokkai hen · as Shin'ichi Tachibana
1965
Abashiri bangaichi: Bôkyô hen · as Shinichi Tachibana
1965
Brutal Tales of Chivalry · as Seiji Terajima
1965
1965
1965
Zoku Abashiri bangaichi · as Shinichi Tachibana
1965
Abashiri Prison · as Shinichi Tachibana
1965
1965
1965
1964
Wolves, Pigs and People · as Jiro Kuroki, The Second Brother
1964
1964
1964
1964
An Outlaw · as Minami
1964
Jakoman and Tetsu · as Tetsu
1964
1964
1963
1963
1963
1963
1962
Tales of President Mito · as Sukesaburo Sasa
1962
Lady Sen and Hideyori · as Naomori
1962
1962
1962
1961
Mannen Tarô to anego shain · as Tarô Mannen
1961
Hana to arashi to gyangu · as 'smiley' Ken
1961
1960
1960
1960
1959
1959
1958
1958
1958
Hijô-sen · as Cast
1958
1957
Men Fighting Whales · as Yosuke Yamagami
1957
1957
1957
Kenka shain · as Cast
1956

Take Plex everywhere

Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices