, better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor.

Life

Ogata was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. Ogata is well known for his roles in

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's ''

The Pillow Book is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian-period Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002. The work is a collection o ...

'', Paul Schrader's '' Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters'' and Shohei Imamura's '' The Ballad of Narayama''. He won the award for best actor at the 26th

Blue Ribbon Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan. The awards were established in 1950 by which is composed of film correspondents from seven Tokyo-based sports newspapers. In 1961, the six major Japanes ...

for '' Okinawan Boys''. In television, his starring role as

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

in the 1965

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

Taiga drama '' Taikōki'' catapulted him to fame. Ken went on to many prominent roles in subsequent programs. The following year, he portrayed

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in ''

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo conso ...

''. The network tapped him again for the role of

Fujiwara no Sumitomo was a Japanese Heian era court noble and warrior. From 939 to 941 he aided the Taira clan in a series of revolts. Sumitomo built his power base in Northern Kyushu. After making a secret agreement with Taira no Masakado, who was leading a revo ...

in the 1976 ''

Kaze to Kumo to Niji to is a 1976 Japanese historical television series. It is the 14th NHK taiga drama. Kaze to kumo to Niji to deals with the Heian period in Japan. Based on Chōgorō Kaionji's novels ''Taira no Masakado'' and ''Umi to Kaze to Niji to''. The drama was ...

''. He returned to playing Hideyoshi in the 1978 ''Ōgon no Hibi'', and returned to the lead as

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in ''Tōge no Gunzō,'' the 1982 ''

Chūshingura is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven ''rōnin'' and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including th ...

.'' Another featured appearance in a Taiga drama was in ''

Taiheiki The (Chronicle of Great Peace) is a Japanese historical epic (see '' gunki monogatari'') written in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Taiheiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 923� ...

'' (1991, as Ashikaga Sadauji, father of Takauji). His final appearance in the taiga drama was Fūrin Kazan in 2007. Besides the taiga drama series, Ogata portrayed Fujieda Baian in the Hissatsu series Hissatsu Shikakenin, he reprised the character twice in the film series later. Mr. Ogata died of liver cancer on October 5, 2008, just days after finishing his role in the production of the Fuji TV drama '' Kaze no Garden'' (Garden of the Winds), filmed in the rural Furano area of northern Japan. In his final role, Ogata, himself 71 years of age, played a doctor involved in the end-of-life care of elderly patients. His sons Kanta and Naoto are actors.

Filmography

Film

Television

Japanese dub

*''

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'' – Iorek Byrnison (2008)

Honours

* Medal with Purple Ribbon (2000) * Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2008)

References

External links

* *
Ken Ogata's Blog, hara8bunme (in Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogata, Ken Japanese male actors People from Tokyo Deaths from liver cancer Deaths from cancer in Japan 1937 births 2008 deaths Taiga drama lead actors Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class