(24 October 1931 – 14 March 2014) was a Japanese actor who worked on stage, film, and television from the 1950s to the 2010s. Ken Utsui

Career and death

Born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Utsui entered the Haiyūza theatre troupe in 1952 and was soon selected to star in the film ''Seishun no izumi'' that was produced by Haiyūza. In 1954, he signed a contract with

Shintoho was a Japanese movie studio. It was one of the big six film studios (which also included Daiei, Nikkatsu, Shochiku, Toei Company, and Toho) during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original Toho company ...

and starred in 60 films, including the

Super Giant is a Japanese superhero featured in a successful series of serial-like tokusatsu short feature films produced between 1957 and 1959 by Shintoho (the non-union branch of Toho). He is also known in Japan as , is known in The United States as St ...

series. He moved to

Daiei Film Daiei Film Co. Ltd. ( Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ''Daiei Eiga Kabushiki Kaisha'') was a Japanese film studio. Founded in 1942 as Dai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, produci ...

in 1963 and starred in another 52 films. From the mid-1960s, he also began to work on television, starring in many television dramas, especially detective series like ''The Guardman'' and ''Sasurai keiji junjōhen'' and some installments of the ''Akai'' series with

Momoe Yamaguchi , known by her maiden name , is a Japanese former singer, actress, and Japanese idol, idol whose career lasted from 1972 to 1980. Often simply referred to by her given name "Momoe", Yamaguchi is one of the most successful singers in Japanese musi ...

. He died on 14 March 2014 from

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinc ...

at the age of 82.Japanese actor Ken Utsui dies at 82

Selected filmography

Film

* '' Ningen gyorai kaiten'' (人間魚雷回天 Ningen gyorai kaiten) (1955) * '' Revenge of the Pearl Queen'' (1956) * '' Senun Ajia no joo'' (戦雲アジアの女王) (1957) * ''

Evil Brain from Outer Space ''Evil Brain from Outer Space'' is a 1964 film edited together for American television from films #7, #8 and #9 of the 1957/1958 Japanese Super Giant film series. Synopsis The film concerns Starman's efforts to save the Earth from the follower ...

'' (1964) * ''

Attack from Space ''Attack from Space'' is a 1965 science fiction compilation film produced for American television. It is the third film, following '' Atomic Rulers of the World'' (1 and 2) and '' Invaders from Space'' (3 and 4), to be comprised from the six inst ...

'' (1964) * ''

Invaders from Space ''Invaders from Space'' is a 1964 film edited together for American television from films #3 and #4 of the 1957 Japanese short film series '' Super Giant''. Plot The story involves the superhero Starman who is sent by the Emerald Planet to protec ...

'' (1964) * '' Atomic Rulers of the World'' (1964) *'' Giant Horde Beast Nezura'' (1964) * ''

The Bullet Train is a 1975 Japanese action thriller film directed by Junya Sato and starring Ken Takakura, Sonny Chiba, and Ken Utsui. When a Shinkansen ("bullet train") is threatened with a bomb that will explode automatically if it slows below 80 km/ ...

'' (1975) * ''

Saimin Saimin is a noodle soup dish common in the contemporary cuisine of Hawaii. Traditionally consisting of soft wheat egg noodles served in a hot garnished with diced Scallion, green onions and a thin slice of , modern versions of saimin include ad ...

'' (催眠) (1999) * '' Blooming Again'' (2004) * ''

Gokusen is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by . It was serialized in Shueisha's ''You'' from 2000 to 2007, with its chapters collected in 15 volumes. The story follows Kumiko Yamaguchi, the granddaughter of a yakuza boss and tea ...

- The Movie'' (2009) (Ryuichiro Kuroda)

Television

*''Akai Meiro'' (1974) – Masato Yuki * ''Akai Unmei'' (1976) – Nobuto Yoshino * ''Akai Shisen'' (1980) – carjack victim and pilot * ''

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

'' (1988) – Naoe Kagetsuna * ''Onna tachi no Hyakuman goku'' (1988) –

Maeda Toshiie was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi–Momoyama period. His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as "Yari no Mataza" (槍の又左), Matazaemon (又左 ...

* ''Nobunaga'' (1991) – Hayashi Michikatsu * '' Aoi'' (2000) –

Mōri Terumoto Mōri Terumoto (毛利輝元, January 22, 1553 – June 2, 1625) was a Japanese ''daimyō''. The son of Mōri Takamoto, and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, he fought against Oda Nobunaga but was eventually overc ...

* ''

'' (2002–2005) – Ryuichiro Kuroda * ''

Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari (Making It Through) is a Japanese television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama ...

'' (2006-13) - Daikichi Okakura * ''

Tenchijin is a 2009 Japanese super historical drama television series, and the 48th taiga drama of NHK. It aired every Sunday from January 4 to November 22, 2009, spanning 47 episodes.It is an unusual Taiga Drama as the final episode will be broadcast as e ...

'' (2009) – Maeda Toshiie

References

External links

* *
Official profile
(in Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Utsui, Ken 1931 births 2014 deaths Male actors from Tokyo