image of Ken Takakura
Birthday: Feb 16, 1931
Place of Birth: Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan

Ken Takakura

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.

Filmography
Movie Cast Year
The Longest Tunnel Go Akutsu 1982
Black Rain Masahiro 1989
Operation Diamond 1962
The Yellow Handkerchief Yusaku Shima 1977
47 Ronin Kuranosuke Oishi 1994
Tokyo Gang Vs. Hong Kong Gang 1964
South Pacific Waves Are High 1962
A Dead Drifter 1959
Never Give Up Takeshi Ajisawa 1978
Rogue Isamu Oba 1968
The Yakuza Tanaka Ken 1974
Men Fighting Whales Yosuke Yamagami 1957
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles Gou-ichi Takata 2005
Tokyo Untouchable Yoshio Harada 1962
The Kamikaze Guy 1966
Antarctica Ushioda 1983
Bad Angel 1960
The Bullet Train Tetsuo Okita 1975
Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues Tarô Mannen 1961
Mr. Baseball Uchiyama 1992
Tenka no Kaidanji Senpû Tarô Tarô Senpû 1961
Railroad Man Otomatsu Sato 1999
Kyōkatsu 1963
Red Peony Gambler Naoki Katagiri 1968
Manhunt Morioka 1976
Main Street in the Underworld 1964
An Outlaw Minami 1964
A Distant Cry from Spring Kosaku Tajima 1980
Golgo 13 Duke Togo / Golgo 13 1973
Hell's Companion 1959
Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game Shogo Hanaoka 1969
The Outsiders Ichitaro Kazamori 1958
Tokyo's Business District 1962
Brave Red Flower of the North 1970
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro Sasaki Kojiro 1965
Mount Hakkoda Captain Tokushima 1977
Buddies Kadokura 1989
Station Eiji Mikami 1981
A Fugitive from the Past Ajimura 1965
Dearest Eiji Shimakura 2012
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2 1966
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf 1966
Demon Shuji 1985
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4 1967
Manchurian Sunset Shintaro 1956
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo Hanada Hidejiro 1969
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny 1970
Brutal Tales of Chivalry Seiji Terajima 1965
Showdown in Blood 1957
If You're Man Enough 1960
Abashiri Prison Shinichi Tachibana 1965
Wolves, Pigs & Men Jiro Kuroki, the second brother 1964
All Rascals 1962
The Man 1971
Karate Cop Detective Mikami 1982
Tokyo Untouchable: Escape Yoshio Harada 1963
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang Kuramoto 1972
Uragirimono wa jigoku daze 1962
Winter's Flower Hidetsugu Kano 1978
The Firefly Yamaoka Shuji 2001
G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization 1956
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star Self (archive footage) 1991
The Domain 1964
The Homeless Jokichi Anabuki 1974
A Portrait of the Author Self 1984
Too Late the Hero Major Yamaguchi 1970
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love Hidejiro Hanada 1971
Lightning Karate Blow 1956
Prison Boss 1968
Choji Snack Bar Eiji 1983
The Day the Sun Rose 1968
The Path of the King Ryutaro Fudo 1971
The Deep Blue Sea 1957
Classmates First Lieutenant Kenmochi 1967
The Last Kamikaze Koji Yashiro 1970
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2 1960
The Revolt Keisuke Miyagi 1980
With Songs in My Heart 1958
The Sand City in Manchuria Hari 1960
Prison Walls of Abashiri 4 Shin'ichi Tachibana 1965
New Prison Walls of Abashiri Katsuji Suehiro 1968
Flower, Storm and Gangster 'Smiley' Ken 1961
Romance Freestyle 1958
Four Hours of Terror Captain Yamamoto 1959
Devil's Nursery Rhyme Kosuke Kindaichi 1961
Jet Air Base 101 Jiro Nakata 1957
Sister with Sister Hiroshi Ishioka 1958
Detective Duel 1958
A Fishwife's Tale 1961
Glorious Fights Ichiro Takita 1966
Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza 1968
The International Gang of Kobe Masato Dan 1975
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka 1962
Ken San Self 2016
365 Nights 1962
Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san Kenichi Oka 1961
Man of the World 2 1960
Tales of President Mito Sukesaburo Sasa 1962
No Advice Taken 1958
Outlaw Under a Blue Canopy 1960
Patience Has An End Isamu Tekada 1971
The Bullet and the Horse 1966
House of Gamblers 1970
The Pledge 1972
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4 Kenichi Hanamura 1961
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 3 1960
Black Rain: Making The Film Self (archive footage) 2006
Eleven Gangsters Sawagami 1963
The Second Bullet is Marked 1960
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 6 1969
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die 1972
The Chivalrous Life Ryuma Ibuki 1967
New Prison Walls of Abashiri 2 1969
Prison Walls of Abashiri 3 Shinichi Tachibana 1965
Jakoman and Tetsu Tetsu 1964
Samurai Geisha Shimada Seikichi 1969
Miyamoto Musashi: Birth of Two Sword Style Sasaki Kojiro 1963
Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijo Temple Sasaki Kojiro 1964
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm Shin-ichi Tachibana 1967
The Domain: Flower and Dragon Kingoro Tamai 1969
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter 1971
Life of Hishakaku 1963
Song of Kagoshima Shuhei Tategami 1962
The Drifting Avenger Ken Kato 1968
Yakuza of the Present Ryoichi Shimaya 1973
Beyond the Seasonal Wind 1958
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations Saburo Aizawa 1969
Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2 Shinichi Tachibana 1965
Third Generation Boss 1974
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape 1971
Brothers Serving Time 1969
Gambler's Legacy Tsukuda Ginjiro 1969
Bloodiest Flower 1971
Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony Koji Yashiro 1969
Man of Thirteen Eyes 1958
Mother Peacock 1956
The Escape 1962
The Biggest Gamble Shuzo Honjo 1969
The Prickly-Mouthed Geisha Goes to Sado 1961
Man of the World 1960
The Happy Family 1959
The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry 1965
Gang Loyalty and Vengeance Asano 1963
Great Jailbreak Ichiro Kozue 1975
The Japan Derby Race 1970
The Big Boss 1963
Lullaby for a Tough Guy 1972
Men in a Rough Town Fumio Sone 1959
Storm Party 1964
Employee Full of Fight Tani 1957
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: The Vagrant Comes to a Port Town 1969
Japan's Top Gangster Kazuo Taoka 1973
Abashiri Prison: Duel in Hokkaido 1967
The Boss 1965
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the South 1966
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the Snow Country 1966
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri 1970
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stray Wolf in Snow 1970
New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm 1972
Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil Shin-ichi Tachibana 1967
Lady Sen and Hideyori Naomori 1962
The Domain: Rising Dragon 1970
The Domain: The Naniwa Story 1965
Showdown of Men 1966
Dagger 1971
The Domain: White Blade 1967
The Domain: Severed Relations 1968
The Domain: Where The Blade Enters 1967
The Domain: Duel at Thunder Gate 1966
The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown 1966
Path of Japanese Chivalry: Story of All-Out Attack 1975
See You 1988
A Hoodlum At The Risk Of His Life 1970
The Great Road 1960
Hell's Juggler 1961
Duel of the Underworld 1963
Hell's Kitchen 1962
Histories of the Chivalrous 1968
The Chop Professor 1956
Yukyo-retsuden 1970
Gambler Biography 1968
The detective whose path was crossed by a snake 1995
Meteor Karate Strike 1956
Series Cast Year
Older brother Eiji 1977
SMAP×SMAP Bistro Guest 1996
An Elegy of Tyrole Tateishi Jiro 1992
Korekara: Umibe no Tabibitotachi 1993
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