Isuzu Yamada
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1917-02-05
Day of Death
2012-07-09 (95 years old)
Place of Birth
Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Isuzu Yamada
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).
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Known For
Acting
(2002)
(2000)
Kurosawa
as Self
(1985)
Sure Death! Brown, You Bounder!
as Oriku
(1984)
(1982)
Suspicion
as Tokie Horiuchi
(1982)
Arashi Tatsunari
as Tatsu
(1978)
Shogun's Samurai
as Oeyo
(1975)
(1970)
(1962)
The Great Wall
as Dowager Empress
(1962)
Glory on the Summit
as Taka Hirooka
(1962)
Four Sisters
as Tatsuko Katagiri
(1962)
(1962)
(1961)
Yojimbo
as Orin
(1961)
(1961)
Buddha
as Kalideva
(1961)
The Orphan Brother
as Yashio (voice)
(1961)
(1961)
(1961)
Daredevil in the Castle
as Yodogami
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
Goodbye to Glory
as Otake
(1960)
Bonchi
as Sei
(1960)
(1960)
Princess Sen in Edo
as Kisaragi
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
(1959)
(1959)
(1959)
Pineapple Butai
as Shigeyo (Mother)
(1959)
(1958)
A Boy and Three Mothers
as Natsu, the Foster Mother
(1958)
(1958)
(1958)
(1958)
The Seasons of Love
as Urako
(1958)
(1958)
The Spell of the Hidden Gold
as Chizuin
(1958)
(1957)
(1957)
Throne of Blood
as Lady Asaji Washizu
(1957)
The Lower Depths
as Osugi the Landlady
(1957)
Down Town
as Riyo Yazawa
(1957)
(1957)
Tokyo Twilight
as Kisako Soma
(1957)
(1957)
Black River
as Landlady
(1956)
(1956)
(1956)
大当り男一代
as お吉
(1956)
Farewell to Dream
as Seiji's mother, Kiyo
(1956)
Flowing
as Otsuta
(1956)
Namida no hanamichi
as 江戸紫女将そよ
(1956)
Shozo, a Cat and Two Women
as Shinako
(1956)
(1955)
振袖釼法
as 母つじ
(1955)
(1955)
(1955)
(1955)
Christ in Bronze
as Kimika
(1955)
Ai Sureba Koso
as Yaeko (segment 3)
(1955)
荒木又右衛門
as 妻みね
(1955)
Burden of Love
as Some Kaita
(1955)
(1955)
Such is Life
as Oharu
(1955)
(1954)
A Billionaire
as Hanakuma
(1954)
Three Loves
as Mother
(1954)
(1954)
Chushingura
as Oishi Riku
(1954)
(1953)
(1953)
Hiroshima
as Mineh Obah
(1953)
(1953)
A Lonely Woman in a Lonely Land
as Sayo Yamada
(1953)
江戸いろは祭
as 女房おなか
(1953)
Miniature
as Tamiko
(1952)
Tsukigata Hanpeita
as Somehachi
(1952)
(1952)
(1952)
Become a Mother, Become a Woman
as Harue Yasukawa
(1952)
(1952)
(1951)
(1951)
Fireworks Over the Sea
as Kaoru Uozumi
(1951)
(1951)
Home Sweet Home
as Namiko, Kosaku's wife
(1951)
Five Men of Edo
as Okane, Chobei's wife
(1951)
The Killing of Otsuya
as Otsuya
(1951)
The Inner Palace Conspiracy
as Misawa
(1951)
(1950)
Fencing Master
as Oharu
(1950)
Kagebōshi
as お夏
(1950)
(1950)
(1950)
(1950)
The Motherland Far Far Away
as Masako
(1950)
(1947)
Actress
as Sumako Matsui
(1946)
(1945)
The Sword
as Sasae Onoda
(1945)
(1945)
(1944)
(1944)
(1943)
The Song Lantern
as O-Sode
(1943)
音楽大進軍
as Isuzu Yamada
(1943)
(1942)
(1942)
Onna keizu
as Otsuta
(1942)
(1941)
Yukiko and Natsuyo
as Natsuyo
(1941)
(1941)
(1941)
(1941)
The Battle of Kawanakajima
as Oshino
(1940)
(1940)
The Snake Princess
as Oshima
(1939)
Ichiyo Higuchi
as Ichiyo Higuchi
(1939)
Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki
as Oshiho
(1939)
The Day Before
as Osaki
(1939)
The Fighting Firemen
as Koina
(1938)
Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro
as Tsuruhachi
(1937)
The Siege of Osaka
as Senhime
(1936)
Sisters of the Gion
as O-mocha
(1936)
Osaka Elegy
as Ayako Murai
(1935)
The Comb of Oroku
as Okinu
(1935)
Oyuki the Virgin
as Oyuki
(1935)
The Downfall of Osen
as Osen
(1935)
Miss Okichi
as Okichi
(1934)
(1934)
Happy Daughter
as Michiko Yamada
(1934)
(1933)
(1933)
(1932)
(1932)
Banquet Under the Midnight Sun
as Oichi
(1932)
(1932)
(1931)
(1931)
(1931)
In Search of Mother
as Otose
(1930)