was a Japanese singer and award-winning actress, born in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, whose heartfelt performances made her a favorite of the late film director Shohei Imamura. Imamura cast her in three of his films: '' The Pornographers'', '' Warm Water Under a Red Bridge'', and '' The Ballad of Narayama'', winner of the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

1983 Cannes Film Festival The 36th Cannes Film Festival took place from 7 to 19 May 1983. American author William Styron served as jury president for the main competition. Japanese filmmaker Shōhei Imamura won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, for the dra ...

. She won the award for Japanese Best Actress from Nihon Academy for her performance in ''The Ballad of Narayama'', as well as a kiss from

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

. She died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

.坂本スミ子さん死去「楢山節考」「夢であいましょう」出演

References

1936 births 2021 deaths Japanese film actresses {{Japan-film-actor-stub