Takashi Shimura

Infobox Actor
bgcolour = silver
birthname = 志村喬 (Shimura Takashi}

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caption = Takashi Shimura as Watanabe in "Ikiru" (1952).
birthdate = birth date|1905|3|12
birthplace = Asago, Hyōgo, Japan
deathdate = death date and age|1982|2|11|1905|3|12
deathplace = Tokyo, Japan
occupation = Actor
spouse =
children =
website = nihongo|Takashi Shimura|志村 喬|Shimura Takashi| March 12, 1905–February 11, 1982 was one of Japan's greatest actors of the 20th century.

Born in Ikuno, Japan, one of his earliest film roles was in Kenji Mizoguchi's "Osaka Elegy" (1936).

After Toshiro Mifune, Shimura was probably the next most closely associated actor with Akira Kurosawa. Shimura appeared in many of Kurosawa's films. His roles include Kambei, the lead samurai in "Seven Samurai", the woodcutter in "Rashomon", the mortally ill bureaucrat in "Ikiru", the veteran detective in "Stray Dog", and the doctor in "Drunken Angel".

In fact, Kurosawa's cinematic collaboration with Shimura, from 1943 to 1980, started earlier and lasted longer than his work (1948-65) with Mifune. Shimura appeared in the director's debut film, "Sanshiro Sugata" (1943), and the last film of Kurosawa's in which he acted was "Kagemusha" (1980), for which Kurosawa specifically wrote a part for Shimura. However, the scene was cut from the western release, and so many did not know that he had been part of the film. The release of the movie by The Criterion Collection restored Shimura's footage.

Outside of his career working with Kurosawa, Shimura is probably best known for his roles in several Japanese monster movies, including the scientist Kyohei Yamane in the first two Godzilla films.

Shimura died on February 11, 1982 from emphysema at the age of 76.

Partial filmography

* 1943: "Sanshiro Sugata"
* 1944: "The Most Beautiful"
* 1945: "The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail"
* 1946: "No Regrets for Our Youth"
* 1948: "Drunken Angel"
* 1949: "The Quiet Duel"
* 1949: "Stray Dog" - as detective Sato. He won award for Best Actor at the 1950 Mainichi Film Concours.
* 1950: "Scandal"
* 1950: "Rashomon"
* 1951: "Elegy"
* 1951: "The Idiot"
* 1952: "Ikiru"
* 1954: "Seven Samurai"
* 1954: "Godzilla"
* 1955: "Godzilla Raids Again"
* 1955: "I Live in Fear"
* 1956: ""
* 1957: "The Mysterians"
* 1957: "Throne of Blood"
* 1958: "The Hidden Fortress"
* 1960: "Storm Over the Pacific"
* 1961: "Yojimbo"
* 1961: "Mothra"
* 1962: "Sanjuro"
* 1962: ""
* 1963: "High and Low"
* 1964: "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster"
* 1964: "Kwaidan"
* 1965: "Samurai Assassin"
* 1965: "Red Beard"
* 1968: "Zatoichi and the Fugitives"
* 1973: "Zatoichi's Conspiracy"
* 1974: "Prophecies of Nostradamus"
* 1978: "Love and Faith"
* 1980: "Kagemusha"

External links

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* [http://www.eigapedia.com/wiki/Takashi_Shimura Takashi Shimura] at Eigapedia