Isao Kimura

Isao Kimura
, sometimes credited as Kō Kimura, was a Japanese stage and film actor who appeared in more than one hundred films of directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Mikio Naruse, Tadashi Imai and Yoshishige Yoshida.
Biography
Kimura was born in Hiroshima City, and graduated from the Bunka Gakuin school, Tokyo, in 1943. In 1945, he lost his parents in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and was himself exposed to radiation. He joined the Haiyuza Theatre Company in 1946, but left four years later to form the Youth Actor Club (Gekidan Seihai) with Eiji Okada and Nobuo Kaneko.
Kimura acted in films since 1942. Notable appearances include Kurosawa's Stray Dog, Seven Samurai and Ikiru. In addition, he worked with the Seihai theatre company and made numerous television appearances. He succumbed to cancer and died in 1981, aged 58.
Selected filmography
Hawai Mare oki kaisen (1942) – Kurata
The Love of Sumako the Actress (1947)
Stray Dog (1949) – Yusa the criminal
Angry Street (1950)
Elegy (1951)
Nakinureta ningyō (1951)
Dokkoi ikiteru (1951)
Dancing Girl (1951) – Nozu
Yamabiko gakkō (1952)
Boryoku (1952)
Ikiru (1952) – Intern
Vacuum Zone (1952) – Kitani
Onna hitori daichi o yuku (1953)
Pu-san (1953)
Seven Samurai (1954) – Katsushiro Okamoto
Okuman choja (1954) – Koroku Tate
Ashizuri misaki (1954)
Hi no hate (1954)
Ningen gyorai kaiten (1955)
Ofukuro (1955)
Beautiful Days (1955)
Asunaro monogatari (1955) – Kashima
Kyatsu o nigasuna (1956) – Takeo Fujisaki
Tengoku wa doko da (1956)
Boshizō (1956) – Shimizu
Throne of Blood (1957) – Phantom samurai
The Rice People (1957) – Senkichi
Bibō no miyako (1957)
Jun'ai monogatari (1957) – Doctor at Segawa Hospital
Anzukko (1958) – Ryokichi Urushiyama – the husband
Kisetsufu no kanatani (1958)
Summer Clouds (1958) – Okawa
Kēdamonō no torū michi (1959)
Onna to kaizoku (1959) – Koshichi
Hahakogusa (1959) – Yoshihiko Takayama
Keishichō monogatari: Iryūhin nashi (1959)
Shiroi gake (1960)
Yōtō monogatari: hana no Yoshiwara hyakunin-giri (1960)
Ikinuita jūroku-nen: Saigo no Nippon-hei (1960) – Takano, Army officer
Kēnju yaro ni gо̄yojin (1961)
Miyamoto Musashi (1961) – Hon'iden Matahachi
Machi (1961) – News paper editor
Hachi-nin me no teki (1961) – Kutsuda
Knightly Advice (1962)
Nippon no obaachan (1962) – Taguchi
The Temple of the Wild Geese (1962) – Atsumichi Uda
Watakushi-tachi no kekkon (1962)
Miyamoto Musashi: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights (1962) – Hon'iden Matahachi
Seki no yatappe (1963)
High and Low (1963) – Detective Arai
Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963) – Hirotaro Iguchi
Miyamoto Musashi: Nitо̄ryū kaigen (1963) – Hon'iden Matahachi
Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijoji (1964) – Hon'iden Matahachi
Assassination (1964) – Tadasaburо̄ Sasaki
Ware hitotsubu no mugi naredo (1964)
Shape of the Night (1964) – Saitо̄
Bakumatsu zankoku monogatari (1964)
Miyamoto Musashi: Ganryū-jima no kettо̄ (1965) – Hon'iden Matahachi
Akutō (1965) – Shioya Hangan
Tange Sazen: Hien iaigiri (1966) – Yagyu Genzaburo
Aogeba tōtoshi (1966)
The Affair (1967) – Mitsuhuru
Tabiji (1967) – Eikichi
Flame and Women (1967) – Shingo, Ibuki
Black Lizard (1968) – Detective Kogoro Akechi
Affair In The Snow (1968) – Kazuo Imai
Snow Country (1969) – Shimamura
Secret Information (1969) – Goro Izawa
Chōkōsō no Akebono (1969)
Sakariba nagashi uta: Shinjuku no onna (1970) – Funaki
Tenkan no abarembo (1970) – Hanpeita Takechi
Confessions Among Actresses (1971) – Director Nose
Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (1974) – Tsuchigumo Hyoei
Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974) – Film Critic
Nagisa no shiroi ie (1978) – Toshihiko Kurahashi
References
External links
1923 births
1981 deaths
Deaths from esophageal cancer
Actors from Hiroshima
Deaths from cancer in Japan
20th-century Japanese male actors