Ken Yamauchi

Ken Yamauchi (山内賢, Yamauchi Ken, December 9, 1943 - September 24, 2011) was a Japanese actor, singer and moderator. His real name was Akira Fujise (藤瀬 賢晁).

Biography 
Yamauchi was born in Tokyo in 1943. He graduated from the Takinogawa Daiyon Elementary School and Kita Ward Shinmachi Junior High School (currently Tabata Junior High School). At the Tamagawa University, he meet Mitsuo Hamada, a fellow classmate and latter became his friend. His older brother Akira Kubo was an actor for Toho. Yamauchi's height was 170 cm his blood was Type A. In 1955, he made his debut as a child actor under the stage name "Ken Kubo" in "Sugata naki mokugekisha". Yamauchi would later appeared in Toho's films. On April 1, 1962, he signed a contract with Nikkatsu and changed his stage name to "Ken Yamauchi".

He appeared in many Nikkatsu movies such as youth films. His first film in Nikkatsu was Kumo ni mukatte tatsu, which starring Yujiro Ishihara. He supported the Nikkatsu Junai / Youth route, which became a relatable in the 1960s. There are many co-starring works with Masako Izumi, and appeared other films such as "The Bastard" and "Stories of Bastards: Born Under a Bad Star" directed by Seijun Suzuki are representative works. He also co-starring with legendary Enka singer Kazuo Funaki. He specializes in singing and playing guitar. In 1962, he formed a band called Young and Fresh (ヤング・アンド・フレッシュ, Yangu Ando furesshu) with Koji Wada, Toshio Sugiyama, Hajime Sugiyama, and Masahiro Kinoshita (four were Nikkatsu actors), and released records and they would featured in several movies. In 1966, the band sung "Futari no Ginza" and "Tokyo Night" with Masako Izumi became big hits, and the movie of the same name was also produced (Ginza Lights and Tokyo Night). With the decline of Japanese movies, Yamauchi moved his career to other television studios and played an active part as a singer, public speaker and moderators. His best known role was a teacher in the "Abare Hatchaku Series", aired from 1979 to 1982, and in NHK's "Hobby Course" (played as a fisherman and mountain climber) broadcast from 1983, 1997, and 1998. In the summer of 2003, Yamauchi was diagnosed with lung cancer, but was later recovered soon after.  After that, 4 operations were performed on Yamauchi after suffering from both metastases and esophageal cancers.

On November 17, 2007 at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, a joint parties called " The Actors Club" that consists former voice and screen actors and "The Old Friendship Club", featuring film directors, producers, screenwriters and other staff members who worked at Nikkatsu. The party was attended by Tetsuya Watari, Ruriko Asaoka, Joe Shishido, Izumi Ashikawa, Chieko Matsubara, Tamio Kawachi, Tadao Sawamoto, Seijun Suzuki, Umetsugu Inoue, Buichi Saito, Toshio Masuda and others. In September 2008, he released a new duet song "Adult Ginza" with Masako Izumi for the first time in 40 years.

In addition, a new album recording the hit works of the past including "Two Ginza" will be released. In February 2009, he was co-starring for the "Abare Hatchaku Series" in the planning of a new television program with other actors who appeared back in the 70s and 80s, Tomonori Yoshida (first generation Abare Hatchaku), Atsushi Kurimata (2nd generation Abare Hatchaku), and reunited with Yukako Hayase (the first heroine) and others for the first time in 30 years. Yamauchi died at a hospital in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo on September 24, 2011 at 4:53 am due to pneumonia at the age of 67. The priest who see Yamauchi for the last time was "Kensho Takaoka, a resident of Jyokeiin." At his funeral on September 26th of that same year, his fellow colleagues Mitsuo Hamada, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Masako Izumi and others attended, and Izumi said in a condolence, "There are many seniors in heaven, so I asked them to make an alumni association."

Filmography 

 All films and TV shows on IMDb