Isuzu Yamada
Born: 1917-02-05 in Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Died: 2012-07-09
Known For: Acting
Biography
Isuzu Yamada (山田 五十鈴, Yamada Isuzu, 5 February 1917 – 9 July 2012) was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades. Yamada was born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada, the daughter of Kusudu Yamada, a shinpa actor specialising in onnagata roles, and Ritsu, a geisha. Yamada debuted as a film actress in 1930 at age twelve, appearing in the Nikkatsu film Tsurugi wo koete. She soon became one of Nikkatsu's top actresses, but it was her portrayals of strong-willed modern girls in Kenji Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion in 1936 at the new Daiichi Eiga studio that earned her popularity and critical acclaim. Moving to Shinkō Kinema and then to Toho, she became a star with Mikio Naruse's Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro (1938). During the second half of the 1950s, Yamada's main attention shifted towards the stage, but she still appeared in a number of distinguished films like Naruse's Flowing (1956), Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Twilight (1957) and Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths (1957) and Throne of Blood (1957). Other directors she worked with during this decade include Keisuke Kinoshita, Kaneto Shindō and Shirō Toyoda. In addition to her theatre engagements, she appeared on television, including the long-running Hissatsu series. Her last TV appearance was in 2002. Yamada died from multiple organ failure in Tokyo on 9 July 2012 at the age of 95. She was married four times, to actor Ichirō Tsukita, to producer Kazuo Takimura, to actor Yoshi Katō, and to actor Tsutomu Shimomoto. Her daughter with Tsukita, Michiko, became known as the actress Michiko Saga (1935–1992). Description above from the Wikipedia article Isuzu Yamada, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Filmography
2000
- Kurosawa as Self
1985
- Sure Death! Brown, You Bounder! as Oriku
1984
1982
- Suspicion as Tokie Horiuchi
- Arashi Tatsunari as Tatsu
1978
- Shogun's Samurai as Oeyo
1970
1966
- Minamoto no Yoshitsune as Joban
1964
- Akō Rōshi as Riku
1963
- 咲子さんちょっと as 中川しの
1962
- The Body
- The Great Wall as Dowager Empress
- Glory on the Summit as Taka Hirooka
- Four Sisters as Tatsuko Katagiri
- 365 Nights
- 假名手本忠臣蔵
1961
- Yojimbo as Orin
- The Orphan Brother as Yashio (voice)
- Buddha as Kalideva
- 誰よりも金を愛す
- Daredevil in the Castle as Yodogami
- The Shrikes
- Case of a Young Lord 9: Black Camellia
1960
- Bonchi as Sei
- The Lovelorn Geisha
- 風来物語 あばれ飛車
- Mission Accomplished
- Princess Sen in Edo as Kisaragi
- Deep River Melody
- Goodbye to Glory as Otake
- Onatsu Detective Case: Mad Slasher
- Secret
- Hanjiro of Kusama: Bird of Passage as Otoku
1959
- The Hidden Treasure
- Pineapple Butai as Shigeyo (Mother)
- 風来物語任侠篇
- Love in the Mountains
1958
- The Days of Evil Women
- The Spell of the Hidden Gold
- Taikoki - The Saga of Hideyoshi
- The Seasons of Love as Urako
- A Boy and Three Mothers as Natsu, the Foster Mother
- The Shop Curtain
- The Undefeated Woman
1957
- Throne of Blood as Lady Asaji Washizu
- Tokyo Twilight as Kisako Soma
- The Lower Depths as Osugi the Landlady
- Black River as Landlady
- A Matter of Valour
- The Shadow Daughter
- The Horse Boy
- Down Town as Riyo Yazawa
1956
- Farewell to Dream as Seiji's mother, Kiyo
- How Sorrowful
- Flowing as Otsuta
- Shozo, a Cat and Two Women as Shinako
- 大当り男一代 as お吉
- Namida no hanamichi as 江戸紫女将そよ
- The Mandarin Room
- Mother and Child
1955
- Burden of Love as Some Kaita
- Ai Sureba Koso as Yaeko (segment 3)
- The Big Ambition
- Christ in Bronze as Kimika
- 荒木又右衛門 as 妻みね
- Such is Life as Oharu
- Chutaro of Banba
- 振袖釼法 as 母つじ
- Minamoto Yoshitsune
- Ishigassen
- Growing Up
1954
- A Billionaire as Hanakuma
- Hirate Miki the Swordman
- Chushingura as Oishi Riku
- Three Loves as Mother
- Karatachi no hana
1953
- Hiroshima as Mineh Obah
- At the End of the Clouds
- Miniature as Tamiko
- Wild Lion
- A Lonely Woman in a Lonely Land as Sayo Yamada
- 江戸いろは祭 as 女房おなか
1952
- Modern People
- Tsukigata Hanpeita as Somehachi
- Become a Mother, Become a Woman as Harue Yasukawa
- Devil’s Statue
- The Stand in Hakone
- Castle of Revenge
1951
- Five Men of Edo as Okane, Chobei's wife
- Fireworks Over the Sea as Kaoru Uozumi
- Home Sweet Home as Namiko, Kosaku's wife
- The Inner Palace Conspiracy as Misawa
- Kurama Tengu: Acrobat in a lion mask
- Satsuma-bikyaku
- The Killing of Otsuya as Otsuya
- 木曽路の決闘 夏祭り三度笠
1950
- A Man from Akagi
- Kagebōshi as お夏
- The Motherland Far Far Away as Masako
- Zoku kagebōshi ryūkoaiutsutsu
- Fencing Master as Oharu
- A Mother's Love
- 風雲金毘羅山
1947
- Actress as Sumako Matsui
1945
- The Sword as Sasae Onoda
- Until Victory Day
1943
- The Song Lantern as O-Sode
- 音楽大進軍 as Isuzu Yamada
- Kantaro of Ina
1942
- Onna keizu as Otsuta
- The Man Who Waited
- Musashibo Benkei
1941
1940
- Keshô yuki
- The Snake Princess as Oshima
1939
- Ichiyo Higuchi as Ichiyo Higuchi
- Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki as Oshiho
- The Fighting Firemen as Koina
- The Day Before as Osaki
1938
- Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro as Tsuruhachi
1937
- The Siege of Osaka as Senhime
1936
- Osaka Elegy as Ayako Murai
- Sisters of the Gion as O-mocha
1935
- Oyuki the Virgin as Oyuki
- The Downfall of Osen as Osen
- The Comb of Oroku as Okinu
- Miss Okichi as Okichi
1934
- Martial Arts Encyclopedia
- Happy Daughter as Michiko Yamada
- The Elegant Swordsman