Sonny Chiba
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1939-01-23
Day of Death
2021-08-19 (82 years old)
Place of Birth
Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
Sonny Chiba
Biography
Sonny Chiba (born January 23, 1939 - August 19, 2021), also known as Shin'ichi Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Born in Fukuoka, Chiba played a variety of sports in high school, including baseball and volleyball. He also practiced gymnastics and participated at the National Sports Festival of Japan in his third year. When he was a university student, he learned martial arts, earning a black belt in Kyokushin Karate in 1965 and later receiving a fourth degree in 1984.
Chiba's career began in the 1960s, when he starred in two tokusatsu superhero shows. In his first role, he replaced Susumu Wajima as the main character Kōtarō Ran/Seven Color Mask in Seven Color Mask (Nana-iro Kamen) in the second half of the series. However, his breakthrough role was in the 1974 film The Street Fighter. Before retiring, Chiba had also appeared in a number of English language American films, including Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Fast & Furious 3: Tokyo Drift (2006).
Chiba died of COVID-19 complications at the hospital in Tokyo on 19 August 2021, at the age of 82.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Sonny Chiba, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Acting
(2024)
(2023)
(2019)
(2018)
Shakespeare In Tokyo
as Calligrapher
(2017)
(2017)
(2017)
(2017)
(2016)
(2015)
(2015)
(2015)
Take a Chance
as Musashi
(2015)
Biohazard: The Stage
as Ezra Sennett
(2014)
(2014)
(2014)
(2013)
Sushi Girl: A Documentary
as Self
(2013)
Unification Of Japan 2
as Seizo Gonda
(2013)
Unification Of Japan
as Seizo Gonda
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(2012)
Sushi Girl
as Sushi Chef
(2012)
The Legend of Space Sheriff Gavan
as Space Sheriff Voicer
(2012)
(2012)
(2011)
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
as Hattori Hanzo
(2009)
(2009)
(2007)
Oyaji
as Ryudo Numata
(2006)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
as Uncle Kamata
(2006)
(2006)
Tarantino's Mind
as (archive footage)
(2005)
New Shadow Warriors VI: The Final Chapter
as Hattori Hanzo I
(2005)
(2005)
New Shadow Warriors V: Hattori Hanzo vs Onmyoji
as Hattori Hanzo I
(2004)
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
as Hattori Hanzo
(2004)
Survive Style 5+
as Azama
(2004)
(2004)
Explosive City
as Otosan
(2004)
New Shadow Warriors IV: Jiraika 2
as Hattori Hanzo I
(2003)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
as Hattori Hanzo
(2003)
Battle Royale II: Requiem
as Makio Mimura
(2003)
New Shadow Warriors II
as Hattori Hanzo I
(2003)
New Shadow Warriors
as Hattori Hanzo I
(2003)
New Shadow Warriors III: Jiraika 1
as Hattori Hanzo I
(2002)
Deadly Outlaw: Rekka
as Yasunori Hijikata
(2001)
(2001)
(2000)
Born to Be King
as Ichiro Kusakari
(2000)
(2000)
Legend of the Flying Swordsman
as Dagger
(1998)
The Storm Riders
as Lord Conqueror
(1998)
Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes
as Self (archive footage)
(1995)
Body Count
as Makato
(1994)
Immortal Combat
as Jiro 'J.J.' Jintani
(1992)
Iron Eagle III
as Horikoshi
(1992)
Fighting Fist
as Supt. Yamada
(1992)
The Triple Cross
as Chiba
(1991)
Saito Dosan: Rage of Power
as Mitsutsugu Akechi
(1991)
(1991)
(1990)
(1990)
Shingo's Ten Duels
as Umei Tamon
(1990)
(1989)
Shogun's Shadow
as Iba Shoemon
(1989)
Sensei
as Makoto Ushiyama
(1989)
(1989)
(1988)
(1987)
Sure Death 4
as Bunshichi
(1987)
(1986)
Cabaret
as Yakuza boss
(1985)
The Last True Yakuza
as Ryozo Kano
(1985)
(1984)
Kotaro, An Audacious Karate Boy
as Sonny Sullivan
(1984)
Space Sheriff Shaider: The Movie
as Shaider (Voice)
(1984)
The Awesome Circus Bastard
as Maejima Daigaku
(1984)
Space Sheriff Shaider: Pursuit! The Strange Kidnappers!
as Shaider (Voice)
(1983)
Legend of the Eight Samurai
as Inuyama Dosetsu Tadatomo
(1983)
Kabamaru the Ninja Boy
as Iga no Saizo
(1982)
Ninja Wars
as Shinzaemon Yagyu
(1982)
(1981)
Samurai Reincarnation
as Jubei Yagyu
(1981)
Roaring Fire
as Mr. Magic
(1981)
The Bushido Blade
as Prince Ido
(1981)
Kamikaze, the Adventurer
as Daisuke Kamikaze
(1980)
Virus
as Dr. Yamauchi
(1980)
Shogun's Ninja
as Shiranui Shogen
(1980)
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Complete Saga
as Katsutoshi Otomo
(1980)
(1979)
G.I. Samurai
as Lt. Yoshiaki Iba
(1979)
Hunter in the Dark
as Samon Shimoguni
(1979)
The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf
as Mitsuhiko Sakurai
(1979)
(1978)
Shogun's Samurai
as Jûbê Yagyû
(1978)
The Fall of Ako Castle
as Fuwa Kazuemon
(1978)
Message from Space
as Prince Hans
(1978)
(1977)
Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon
as Duke Togo (Golgo 13)
(1977)
Hokuriku Proxy War
as Kanai Hachiro
(1977)
(1977)
Doberman Cop
as Joji Kano
(1977)
Japan's Don
as Tsuneyoshi Sakota
(1977)
Black Jack: The Visitor in the Eye
as Drunkard
(1977)
Karate for Life
as Sensei Masutatsu Oyama
(1977)
(1977)
Soul of Chiba
as Mu Yun Tek
(1976)
Dragon Princess
as Kazuma Higaki
(1976)
Karate Warriors
as Shuuhei Sakata
(1976)
The Killing Machine
as Doshin So
(1976)
(1976)
The Great Okinawa Yakuza War
as Seigou Kunigami
(1976)
Jail Breakers
as Wataru Kangi
(1976)
(1975)
The Bullet Train
as Aoki
(1975)
Wolf Guy
as Akira Inugami
(1975)
Karate Bear Fighter
as Mas Oyama
(1975)
(1975)
13 Steps of Maki: The Young Aristocrats
as Kenichi Hyuga
(1975)
(1975)
Karate Bullfighter
as Sensei Masutatsu Oyama
(1975)
(1974)
The Street Fighter
as Takuma Tsurugi
(1974)
Sister Street Fighter
as Seiichi Hibiki
(1974)
The Street Fighter's Last Revenge
as Takuma Tsurguri
(1974)
The Executioner
as Ryuichi Koga
(1974)
Return of the Street Fighter
as Takuma Tsurugi
(1974)
The Executioner II: Karate Inferno
as Ryuichi Koga
(1974)
(1973)
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima
as Katsutoshi Otomo
(1973)
Tokyo-Seoul-Bangkok Drug Triangle
as Tatsuya Wada
(1973)
(1973)
(1973)
Robot Detective: The Movie
as Keitaro Shinjo
(1972)
The Horrible Obsessions
as Haruo Kikuchi
(1972)
(1972)
Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend My Condolences
as Toru Ibuki
(1972)
(1972)
(1971)
Kamikaze Cop, The Poison Gas Affair
as Shiro Hayata
(1971)
Kamikaze Cop, No Epitaph to Us
as Shiro Hayata
(1970)
The Last Kamikaze
as Captain Mishima
(1970)
A Kamikaze Cop
as Hayata Shiro
(1970)
(1969)
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
as Sho Onuma
(1969)
Delinquent Boss: Wolves of the City
as Mitsuo Fujiki
(1968)
(1968)
(1968)
Army Intelligence
as Kazuo Yamamoto
(1967)
Classmates
as Second Sublieutenant Hanzawa
(1967)
(1967)
(1967)
(1967)
The Rickshaw Man’s Son
as Komakichi Sugimoto
(1967)
(1967)
(1966)
The Golden Bat
as Dr. Yamatone
(1966)
Terror Beneath the Sea
as Ken Abe
(1966)
(1966)
(1966)
Game of Chance
as Bungo Endo
(1966)
(1966)
The Kamikaze Guy
as Mitarai Ken
(1965)
(1965)
Tale of Japanese Burglars
as Lawyer Ohki
(1965)
Yakuza G-Men
as Toru Sasayama
(1965)
(1965)
(1965)
(1964)
(1964)
(1964)
(1964)
(1964)
Two Lives, Two Yakuza
as Shinichi Matsuhashi
(1963)
(1963)
(1963)
(1963)
The Navy
as Takao
(1963)
(1963)
(1963)
(1963)
(1962)
Four Sisters
as Shinkichi Hayami
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
(1961)
Invasion of the Neptune Men
as Tachibana - Scientist / Space Chief
(1961)
(1961)
(1961)
Drifting Detective: Tragedy in the Red Valley
as Goro Saionji
(1961)
Police Precinct Part 17
as Detective Nakagawa
(1961)
Tale of a Company Boss 3
as Nagashima
(1961)
(1961)
(1961)
Police Precinct: 15 Year Old Woman
as Detective Nakagawa
Crew
(2007)
Oyaji
Writer, Director
(2004)
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Fight Choreographer
(1992)
Fighting Fist
Director
(1990)
Yellow Fangs
Director, Producer
(1989)
Sensei
Producer
(1981)
The Blazing Valiant
Action Director
(1979)
G.I. Samurai
Action Director