Frankie Sakai

Frankie Sakai
(13 February 1929 – 10 June 1996) was a Japanese comedian, actor, and musician.
Career
From his days at Keio University, Sakai worked as a jazz drummer at American Army camps during the Occupation of Japan, often doing comic routines with his music. Becoming a professional comedian, he appeared in many famous film comedies such as Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate and the Shachō and Ekimae series at the Toho Studios. He was named best actor at the Blue Ribbon Awards for his work in Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate and Shiawase wa orera no negai.
He also appeared in musicals such as Kimi mo shusse ga dekiru, serious dramas such as I Want to Be a Shellfish, and kaiju eiga like Mothra. He was also known for his personal study of the ukiyo-e artist Sharaku and helped produce the film Sharaku directed by Masahiro Shinoda. He is best known to American audiences for his dramatic role in the 1980s television production of Shōgun in which he played the part of Lord Yabu.
He died of liver failure on 10 June 1996 at the age of 67.
Selected filmography
Films
Seishun jazu musume (1953)
Musume jûroku jazz matsuri (1954)
Jazz on Parade 1954 nen: Tokyo Cinderella musume (1954)
Hatsukoi kanariya musume (1955) - Furakichi
Ai no onimotsu (1955)
Jazz on Parade: Jazz musume kampai! (1955) - Fura-san
(1955) - Pierrot
Tokyo baka odori (1956)
Chika kara kita otoko (1956) - Shimpei Takiguchi
Zoku ueru tamashii (1956)
Gyûnyû ya Furankî (1956) - Rukuheita Sakai / Kogorô Sakai
Tange Sazen: Kenun no maki (1956)
Otemba san'nin shimai: Odoru taiyô (1957) - Kunio Yamato
Frankie Bûchan no Aa gunkanki (1957)
(1957) - Gorô Sudô
(1957) - Inokori Saheiji, the stayer
Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate (1957) - Inokori Saheiji, the stayer
Frankie Bûchan no zoku aa gunkaki: Nyogo ga-shima funsenki (1957)
Man Who Causes a Storm (1957) - Man in jail (uncredited)
A Boy and Three Mothers (1958) - Seiji, the Farher
Buttsuke homban (1958) - Tetsuo Matsumoto
Kigeki ekimae ryokan (1958) - Kinichi Koyama
Furanki no sannin mae (1958)
Gurama-to no yuwaku (1959) - Tamenaga
Aisaiki (1959)
Moro no Ichimatsu yûrei dochu (1959)
Abarenbo miri ni Ishimatsu (1959)
(1959)
(1959)
Kashima ari (1959)
Shiranami gonin otoko: tenka no ô-dorobô (1960)
Hito mo arukeba (1960) - Keima Sunagawa
Yurei Hanjo-ki (1960) - Hachigogo
Dokuritsu gurentai nishi-e (1960)
'Akasaka no shimai' yori: yoru no hada (1960) - Junpei Tanabe
Â jonan (1960)
Shima no sehiro no oyabun-shû (1961)
Tokkyu Nippon (1961) - Kiichi
Tôkyô yawa (1961) - Ken-chan
Onna wa nido umareru (1961) - Nozaki
(1961) - Senichiro 'Sen-chan' Fukuda
Kigeki: ekimae danchi (1961)
Minami no shima ni yuki ga furu (1961)
(1961) - Mokichi Tamura
Kigeki ekimae bentô (1961)
Salary man Shimizu minato (1962) - Kyû Rokkan
Hagure kigeki mandara (1962)
Shachô yôkôki (1962)
Zoku shachô yôkôki (1962)
Heso no taisho (1962)
Ao beka monogatari (1962) - Goro
Kigeki ekimae onsen (1962) - Jirô Sakai
Shin kitsune to tanuki (1962)
Chikata nikki (1962)
Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki (1962) - Heigorô
Kigeki ekimae hanten (1962)
Kigeki: Detatoko shôbu - 'Chinjarara monogatari' yori (1962) - Nadare no Sabu
Shachô manyûki (1963)
Onna ni tsuyoku naru kufû no kazukazu (1963) - Nobuo Koyama
Zoku shachô manyûki (1963)
Shachô gaiyûki (1963) - Willie Tanaka
Kigeki: Tonkatsu ichidai (1963) - Shinichi Tamaki
Kawachi udoki-Oiroke hanjoki (1963)
Zoku shachô gaiyûki (1963)
Charan boran monogatari (1963)
Daidokoro taiheiki (1963)
Kigeki ekimae chagama (1963)
Todan Goro ichiza (1963)
Wanpaku tenshi (1963)
Shachô shinshiroku (1964)
Kigeki ekimae okami (1964) - Jirô Ban'no
Misuta jaiantsu (1964)
Zoku shachô shinshiroku (1964)
Kigeki: Yôki-na mibôjin (1964) - Ghost / Shunji Ogata / Assistant Professor Kida / Junji Shimamichi / an acupressure therapist / Haruo Taniyama / Middle-aged Man
(1964) - Zenta Yamakawa
Kigeki ekimae kaidan (1964)
Kigeki ekimae ondo (1964)
Kigeki ekimae tenjin (1964)
Shachô ninpôchô (1965)
Kigeki ekimae iin (1965)
Zoku shachô ninpôchô (1965) - Tsuyoshi Kebanai
Kigeki ekimae kinyû (1965)
Rokunin no onna o koroshita otoko (1965)
Hana no o-Edo no hôkaibô (1965) - Hokaibo
Kigeki ekimae daigaku (1965)
Anma taiheiki (1965)
Shachô gyôjôki (1966)
Kigeki ekimae benten (1966)
Zoku shachô gyôjôki (1966) - Tsuyoshi Kebanai
Kigeki ekimae manga (1966) - Jiro Sakai
Kigeki ekimae bantô (1966)
Dark the Mountain Snow (1966) - Jiro
Kigeki ekimae keiba (1966)
Shachô senichiya (1967)
Kigeki ekimae mangan (1967) - Jiro Sakai
Râmen taishi (1967)
Kigeki ekimae gakuen (1967)
Zoku shachô senichiya (1967)
Kigeki ekimae tanken (1967)
Kigeki ekimae hyakku-nen (1967)
Kigeki ekimae kaiun (1968)
Kigeki ekimae kazan (1968) - Jiro Sakai
Kawachi fûten zoku (1968) - Fûkichi
Hakuchû dôdô (1968) - Lawyer Sakashita
Kigeki: Otto urimasu (1968)
Dorifutazu desu yo! Totte totte torimakure (1968)
Kigeki ekimae sanbashi (1969) - Jiro Sakai
Yotarô senki (1969) - Yotarô Akimoto
Yosakoi ryoko (1969) - Goichi Hasegawa
Gyakuten ryoko (1969) - Goichi Hasegawa
Mastermind (1969) - Captain Yamada
Shin Yotarô senki (1969) - Yotarô Akimoto
Gokudô petenshi (1969)
Chibikko Remi to meiken Capi (1970) - Kapi (voice)
Kigeki aa gunka (1970)
Onna kumichô (1970)
Kigeki Kaiun ryokô (1971)
Kigeki: Inochi no nedan (1971)
Kawaii akujo: Koroshi no mae nikuchidzukeo (1972) - Deputy head
Kigeki kaidan ryokô (1972)
Love of a Bad Woman-Kiss Before the Killing (1972)
Kigeki otoko no komoriuta (1972)
Miyamoto Musashi (1973) - Honiden Matahachi
Machi no hi (1973) - Cosmetic surgery
Orenochi wa Taninnochi (1974) - Rokosuke Sawamura
Miyamoto Musashi II (1974)
Miyamoto Musashi (1974)
Kigeki-otoko no ude dameshi (1974)
Ganbare! Wakadaishô (1975)
Hana no kô-ni trio: Hatsukoi jidai (1975) - Ippei Yazawa
Gekitotsu! Wakadaishô (1976)
Kigeki hyakkuten manten (1976)
Nihon no jingi (1977)
Dainamaito don don (1978) - Tokuemon
Tsubasa wa kokoro ni tsukete (1978) - Nobuo Suzuki
Hawaian rabu: Kikenna hanemûn (1978) - Frank Ômori
Vengeance Is Mine (1979) - Inspector Kawai
Hokusai manga (1981) - Nakajima Ise
Arashi o yobu otoko (1983) - Raymond
Kokushi muso (1986) - Isenokami
(1987) - Yorishige Inada
Ore wa otokoda! kanketsu-hen (1987)
Aitsu (1991) - Tadashi Ono
Sono kido o tootte (1993) - Gonemon Tahara
Kowagaru hitobito (1994) - Man of iron pot, man of water-bus
Chounouryoku-sha - Michi eno tabibito (1994)
(1995) - Tsutaya
Shakuhachi (1995)
Setouchi munraito serenade (1997) - (final film role)
Television
Taikōki (1965)
Shōgun (1980) - Lord Kashigi Yabu, Daimyo of Izu
Onna Taikōki (1981) - Tokugawa Ieyasu
Taiheiki (1991) - Nagasaki Enki
Honours
Medal with Purple Ribbon (1994)
References
External links
Japanese male comedians
Japanese jazz musicians
1929 births
1996 deaths
20th-century Japanese male actors
Keio University alumni
20th-century Japanese musicians
Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon
20th-century comedians