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.

Known For	Acting
Most Rating	1.8835
Birthday	1931-02-16
Place of Birth	Nakama, Fukuoka, Japan
Also Known As	Goichi Oda, 高仓健, Кэн Такакура, کن تاکاکورا, 小田剛一, Takeichi Oda,

The Longest Tunnel

Black Rain

Operation Diamond

The Yellow Handkerchief

47 Ronin

Tokyo Gang vs. Hong Kong Gang

South Pacific Waves Are High

A Dead Drifter

Never Give Up

Rogue

The Yakuza

Men Fighting Whales

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles

Tokyo Untouchable

The Kamikaze Guy

Antarctica

The Bullet Train

Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues

Mr. Baseball

The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Whirlwind

Railroad Man

Blackmail

Red Peony Gambler

Manhunt

Main Street in the Underworld

An Outlaw

A Distant Cry from Spring

Golgo 13

Hell's Companion

Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game

The Outsiders

Tokyo's Business District

Brave Red Flower of the North

Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro

Mount Hakkoda

Buddies

Station

A Fugitive from the Past

Dearest

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf

Demon

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny

Manchurian Sunset

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4

Brutal Tales of Chivalry

Showdown in Blood

If You're Man Enough

Abashiri Prison

Wolves, Pigs & Men

All Rascals

The Man

Karate Cop

Tokyo Untouchable: Escape

The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang

Uragirimono wa jigoku daze

The Firefly

Winter's Flower

G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization

Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star

The Domain

The Homeless

A Portrait of the Author

Too Late the Hero

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love

Lightning Karate Blow

Prison Boss

Choji Snack Bar

The Day the Sun Rose

The Path of the King

The Deep Blue Sea

The Last Kamikaze

Classmates

The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2

The Revolt

With Songs in My Heart

The Sand City in Manchuria

Prison Walls of Abashiri 4

New Prison Walls of Abashiri