Ken Takakura

Also Known As: Goichi Oda, 高仓健, Кэн Такакура, کن تاکاکورا

Biography: 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.

Department: Acting

Place of Birth: Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan

Birthday: February 16, 1931

Deathday: November 10, 2014

Adult: No

Gender: Male

Popularity:

6.33%

Known For:

The Longest Tunnel
Black Rain
Operation Diamond
The Yellow Handkerchief
47 Ronin
Tokyo Gang vs. Hong Kong Gang
South Pacific Waves Are High
A Dead Drifter
Never Give Up
Rogue
The Yakuza
Men Fighting Whales
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Tokyo Untouchable
The Kamikaze Guy
Antarctica
Delinquent Angel
The Bullet Train
Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues
Mr. Baseball
Tenka no Kaidanji Senpū Tarō
Railroad Man
Kyōkatsu
Red Peony Gambler
Manhunt
Main Street in the Underworld
An Outlaw
A Distant Cry from Spring
Golgo 13
Hell's Companion
Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game
The Outsiders
Tokyo's  Business District
Brave Red Flower of the North
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
Mount Hakkoda
Buddies
Station
A Fugitive from the Past
Dearest
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf
Demon
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny
Manchurian Sunset
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4
Brutal Tales of Chivalry
Showdown in Blood
If You're Man Enough
Abashiri Prison
Wolves, Pigs & Men
All Rascals
The Man
Karate Cop
Tokyo Untouchable: Escape
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
Uragirimono wa jigoku daze
The Firefly
Winter's Flower
G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
The Domain
The Homeless
A Portrait of the Author
Too Late the Hero
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love
Lightning Karate Blow
Prison Boss
Choji Snack Bar
The Day the Sun Rose
The Path of the King
The Deep Blue Sea
The Last Kamikaze
Classmates
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2
The Revolt
With Songs in My Heart
The Sand City in Manchuria
Prison Walls of Abashiri 4
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
Flower, Storm and Gangster
Romance Freestyle
Four Hours of Terror
Devil's Nursery Rhyme
Jet Air Base 101
Sister with Sister
Detective Duel
A Fishwife's Tale
Glorious Fights
Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza
The International Gang of Kobe
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka
Ken San
365 Nights
Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san
Tales of President Mito
Man of the World 2
No Advice Taken
Outlaw Under a Blue Canopy
The Bullet and the Horse
Patience Has An End
House of Gamblers
The Pledge
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 3
Black Rain: Making The Film
Eleven Gangsters
The Second Bullet is Marked
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 6
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die
New Prison Walls of Abashiri 2
The Chivalrous Life
Prison Walls of Abashiri 3
Jakoman and Tetsu
Samurai Geisha
Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijo Temple
Miyamoto Musashi: Birth of Two Sword Style
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
Life of Hishakaku
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter
Song of Kagoshima
The Drifting Avenger
Yakuza of the Present
Beyond the Seasonal Wind
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2
Third Generation Boss
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape
Brothers Serving Time
Gambler's Legacy
Bloodiest Flower
Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony
Man of Thirteen Eyes
Mother Peacock
The Escape
The Biggest Gamble
The Prickly-Mouthed Geisha Goes to Sado
Man of the World
The Happy Family
The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
Gang Loyalty and Vengeance
Great Jailbreak
The Japan Derby Race
The Big Boss
Lullaby for a Tough Guy
Men in a Rough Town
Storm Party
Employee Full of Fight
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: The Vagrant Comes to a Port Town
Japan's Top Gangster
The Boss
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the South
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the Snow Country
Abashiri Prison: Duel in Hokkaido
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri
Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stray Wolf in Snow
New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm
Lady Sen and Hideyori
The Domain: Rising Dragon
The Domain: The Naniwa Story
Showdown of Men
Dagger
The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown
The Domain: White Blade
The Domain: Duel at Thunder Gate
The Domain: Where The Blade Enters
The Domain: Severed Relations
Path of Japanese Chivalry: Story of All-Out Attack
See You
A Hoodlum At The Risk Of His Life
The Great Road
Hell's Juggler
Duel of the Underworld
Hell's Kitchen
Histories of the Chivalrous
The Chop Professor
Yukyo-retsuden
Gambler Biography
The detective whose path was crossed by a snake
Meteor Karate Strike
A Man's Dark Finger