Ken Takakura
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1931-02-16
Day of Death
2014-11-10 (83 years old)
Place of Birth
Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan
Ken Takakura
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.
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Known For
Acting
(2016)
Ken San
as Self
(2012)
Dearest
as Eiji Shimakura
(2006)
Black Rain: Making The Film
as Self (archive footage)
(2005)
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
as Gou-ichi Takata
(2001)
The Firefly
as Yamaoka Shuji
(1999)
Railroad Man
as Otomatsu Sato
(1995)
(1994)
47 Ronin
as Kuranosuke Oishi
(1992)
Mr. Baseball
as Uchiyama
(1991)
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
as Self (archive footage)
(1989)
Black Rain
as Masahiro
(1989)
Buddies
as Kadokura
(1988)
To the Sea, See You
as Eiji Honma
(1985)
Demon
as Shuji
(1984)
A Portrait of the Author
as Self
(1983)
Antarctica
as Ushioda
(1983)
Choji Snack Bar
as Eiji
(1982)
The Longest Tunnel
as Go Akutsu
(1982)
Karate Cop
as Detective Mikami
(1981)
Station
as Eiji Mikami
(1980)
The Revolt
as Keisuke Miyagi
(1980)
A Distant Cry from Spring
as Kosaku Tajima
(1978)
Never Give Up
as Takeshi Ajisawa
(1978)
Winter's Flower
as Hidetsugu Kano
(1977)
Mount Hakkoda
as Captain Tokushima
(1977)
The Yellow Handkerchief
as Yusaku Shima
(1976)
Manhunt
as Morioka
(1975)
The Bullet Train
as Tetsuo Okita
(1975)
The International Gang of Kobe
as Masato Dan
(1975)
Great Jailbreak
as Ichiro Kozue
(1975)
(1974)
The Yakuza
as Tanaka Ken
(1974)
(1974)
The Homeless
as Jokichi Anabuki
(1973)
Japan's Top Gangster
as Kazuo Taoka
(1973)
Golgo 13
as Duke Togo / Golgo 13
(1973)
Yakuza of the Present
as Ryoichi Shimaya
(1972)
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
as Kuramoto
(1972)
(1972)
(1972)
(1972)
(1971)
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love
as Hidejiro Hanada
(1971)
(1971)
(1971)
The Path of the King
as Ryutaro Fudo
(1971)
Patience Has An End
as Isamu Tekada
(1971)
(1971)
(1971)
(1970)
Too Late the Hero
as Major Yamaguchi
(1970)
The Last Kamikaze
as Koji Yashiro
(1970)
(1970)
(1970)
(1970)
(1970)
(1970)
(1970)
(1970)
(1970)
(1969)
Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game
as Shogo Hanaoka
(1969)
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
as Saburo Aizawa
(1969)
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
as Kingoro Tamai
(1969)
(1969)
(1969)
The Biggest Gamble
as Shuzo Honjo
(1969)
Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony
as Koji Yashiro
(1969)
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
as Hanada Hidejiro
(1969)
Samurai Geisha
as Shimada Seikichi
(1969)
Gambler's Legacy
as Tsukuda Ginjiro
(1969)
(1969)
(1968)
Red Peony Gambler
as Naoki Katagiri
(1968)
(1968)
(1968)
(1968)
(1968)
(1968)
Rogue
as Isamu Oba
(1968)
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
as Katsuji Suehiro
(1968)
The Drifting Avenger
as Ken Kato
(1968)
(1967)
Classmates
as First Lieutenant Kenmochi
(1967)
(1967)
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
as Shin-ichi Tachibana
(1967)
(1967)
The Chivalrous Life
as Ryuma Ibuki
(1967)
Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil
as Shin-ichi Tachibana
(1967)
(1967)
(1966)
(1966)
(1966)
(1966)
(1966)
Glorious Fights
as Ichiro Takita
(1966)
(1966)
(1966)
The Kamikaze Guy
as Fumio Kuroki
(1966)
(1966)
(1965)
Brutal Tales of Chivalry
as Seiji Terajima
(1965)
A Fugitive from the Past
as Ajimura
(1965)
Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2
as Shinichi Tachibana
(1965)
(1965)
Prison Walls of Abashiri 3
as Shinichi Tachibana
(1965)
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
as Sasaki Kojiro
(1965)
Prison Walls of Abashiri 4
as Shin'ichi Tachibana
(1965)
Abashiri Prison
as Shinichi Tachibana
(1965)
(1965)
(1964)
Wolves, Pigs & Men
as Jiro Kuroki, the second brother
(1964)
Jakoman and Tetsu
as Tetsu
(1964)
Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijo Temple
as Sasaki Kojiro
(1964)
(1964)
(1964)
An Outlaw
as Minami
(1964)
(1964)
(1963)
Gang Loyalty and Vengeance
as Asano
(1963)
Miyamoto Musashi: Birth of Two Sword Style
as Sasaki Kojiro
(1963)
Eleven Gangsters
as Sawagami
(1963)
(1963)
(1963)
(1963)
(1963)
Tokyo Untouchable: Escape
as Yoshio Harada
(1962)
(1962)
Tales of President Mito
as Sukesaburo Sasa
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
Tokyo Untouchable
as Yoshio Harada
(1962)
(1962)
Lady Sen and Hideyori
as Naomori
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
Song of Kagoshima
as Shuhei Tategami
(1962)
(1962)
(1962)
(1961)
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4
as Kenichi Hanamura
(1961)
(1961)
Flower, Storm and Gangster
as 'Smiley' Ken
(1961)
(1961)
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Whirlwind
as Tarō Senpū
(1961)
Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san
as Kenichi Oka
(1961)
(1961)
Devil's Nursery Rhyme
as Kosuke Kindaichi
(1961)
Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues
as Tarô Mannen
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
The Sand City in Manchuria
as Hari
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
(1959)
Men in a Rough Town
as Fumio Sone
(1959)
Four Hours of Terror
as Captain Yamamoto
(1959)
(1959)
(1959)
(1959)
(1959)
(1958)
Sister with Sister
as Hiroshi Ishioka
(1958)
The Outsiders
as Ichitaro Kazamori
(1958)
(1958)
(1958)
(1958)
(1958)
(1958)
(1958)
(1958)
(1957)
(1957)
Employee Full of Fight
as Tani
(1957)
Jet Air Base 101
as Jiro Nakata
(1957)
(1957)
Men Fighting Whales
as Yosuke Yamagami
(1956)
(1956)
(1956)
(1956)
(1956)
Manchurian Sunset
as Shintaro
(1956)