Denjirō Ōkōchi
Denjirō Ōkōchi | |
|---|---|
大河内 傳次郎 | |
 Denjirō Ōkōchi | |
| Born | February 5, 1898 |
| Died | July 18, 1962 (aged 64) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Other names | Masuo Ōbe |
| Occupation | Film actor |
| Years active | 1925 – 1961 |
Denjirō Ōkōchi (大河内 傳次郎, Ōkōchi Denjirō, 5 February 1898 – 18 July 1962) was a Japanese film actor most famous for starring roles in jidaigeki directed by leading Japanese filmmakers.
Early life[]
Born in 1898, his real name was Masuo Ōbe.[1]
Career[]
Ōkōchi entered Shinkokugeki (Eng: New National Theatre), training under Shōjirō Sawada (aka Sawasho). Sawada founded this new school of popular theatre in 1917 which had strong cultural impact by the early 1920s.[2] Shinkokugeki was known for jidaigeki the period drama genre, particularly for its realistic sword fights (tate) or swordplay (kengeki).[2]
With this background, Ōkōchi entered the Nikkatsu studio in 1925 and soon came to fame in chanbara (sword-fighting) samurai films – a subgenre of jidaigeki emphasizing tate[2] – playing characters such as Chūji Kunisada and Sazen Tange.[1]
At his peak, he was one of the top jidaigeki stars alongside Tsumasaburō Bandō and Chiezō Kataoka. During World War II, he also appeared in a number of war films.
He was directed by Akira Kurosawa, Daisuke Itō, Sadao Yamanaka, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Hiroshi Inagaki and Masahiro Makino.
Death[]
Ōkōchi had ceased acting by 1961, dying a year later on July 18, 1962.
Legacy[]
His house and garden in Arashiyama, Kyoto, called Ōkōchi Sansō,[3] are still preserved and open to the public.
Selected filmography[]
- Yaji and Kita: The Battle of Toba Fushimi (1927)
- Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue (1927)
- A Diary of Chuji's Travels (xxxx) (忠治旅日記 Chūji tabi nikki)
- Oatsurae Jirokichi Koshi (1931)
- The Million Ryo Pot (1935)
- The Giant (1938)
- Hawai Mare oki kaisen (1942)
- Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
- Ano hata o ute (1944)
- Sanshiro Sugata Part II (1945)
- The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
- No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
- Aru yo no Tonosama (1946)
- The Tale of Genji (1951)
- Dedication of the Great Buddha (1952)
- Eagle of the Pacific (Taiheiyô no washi) (1953)
- The Princess Sen (1954)
- Yagyu Secret Scrolls (1957)
- Dai-bosatsu tōge (1957)
- Akō Rōshi (1961)
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Ōkōchi Denjirō". Nihon jinmei daijiten (in Japanese). Kōdansha. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema, Duke University Press, 2000; Ch "Seven Samurai" p213
- ^ "Okochi Sanso Villa". Japan Visitor. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
External links[]
- Denjirō Ōkōchi at IMDb
- Ōkōchi Denjirō at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
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- Japanese male film actors
- 1898 births
- 1962 deaths
- People from Buzen, Fukuoka
- Actors from Fukuoka Prefecture
- Japanese male silent film actors
- 20th-century Japanese male actors