Ken Takakura
Acting
Born: February 16, 1931 · Nakama, Fukuoka, Japan
Died: November 10, 2014 (aged 83)
Highest Rated
Biography
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
Black Rain
1989
The Yakuza
1974
Mr. Baseball
1992
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
2005
Too Late the Hero
1970
The Bullet Train
1975
Antarctica
1983
A Fugitive from the Past
1965
Railroad Man
1999
The Yellow Handkerchief
1977
A Distant Cry from Spring
1980
47 Ronin
1994
Photos (5)
Movies (189)
Black Rain
Masahiro
Never Give Up
Takeshi Ajisawa
The Yakuza
Tanaka Ken
Too Late the Hero
Major Yamaguchi
Mr. Baseball
Uchiyama
The Yellow Handkerchief
Yusaku Shima
The Bullet Train
Tetsuo Okita
Manhunt
Morioka
A Fugitive from the Past
Ajimura
Railroad Man
Otomatsu Sato
47 Ronin
Kuranosuke Oishi
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Gou-ichi Takata
Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza
1968
Demon
Shuji
Station
Eiji Mikami
Violent Street
1963
Antarctica
Ushioda
Prison Boss
1968
A Distant Cry from Spring
Kosaku Tajima
The Biggest Gamble
Shuzo Honjo
Mount Hakkoda
Captain Tokushima
Brutal Tales of Chivalry
Seiji Terajima
Wolves, Pigs & Men
Jiro Kuroki, the second brother
Jakoman and Tetsu
Tetsu
The Pledge
1972
Choji Snack Bar
Eiji
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
Saburo Aizawa
Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game
Shogo Hanaoka
Dearest
Eiji Shimakura
The Big Boss
1963
Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony
Koji Yashiro
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
Hanada Hidejiro
The Domain
1964
Japan's Top Gangster
Kazuo Taoka
Duel of the Underworld
1963
The Chop Professor
1956
The Firefly
Yamaoka Shuji
Tokyo Gang vs. Hong Kong Gang
1964
Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple
Sasaki Kojiro
Prison Walls of Abashiri 3
Shinichi Tachibana
The Longest Tunnel
Go Akutsu
Lady Sen and Hideyori
Naomori
The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
1965
The Last Kamikaze
Koji Yashiro
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
Kuramoto
All Rascals
1962
Golgo 13
Duke Togo / Golgo 13
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf
1966
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2
1966
Umi e, See You
Eiji Honma
Gang Loyalty and Vengeance
Asano
Storm Party
1964
Yakuza of the Present
Ryoichi Shimaya
Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of Two Sword Style
Sasaki Kojiro
The International Gang of Kobe
Masato Dan
Flower, Storm and Gangster
'Smiley' Ken
The Drifting Avenger
Ken Kato
Karate Cop
Detective Mikami
Main Street in the Underworld
1964
The Outsiders
Ichitaro Kazamori
Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san
Kenichi Oka
The Revolt
Keisuke Miyagi
Prison Walls of Abashiri 4
Shin'ichi Tachibana
Uragirimono wa jigoku daze
1962
Tokyo's Business District
1962
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
Katsuji Suehiro
Meteor Karate Strike
1956
Tokyo Untouchable
Yoshio Harada
The Homeless
Jokichi Anabuki
No Advice Taken
1958
Winter's Flower
Hidetsugu Kano
The Chivalrous Life
Ryuma Ibuki
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die
1972
Red Peony Gambler
Naoki Katagiri
Hell's Companion
1959
Gambler's Legacy
Tsukuda Ginjiro
Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2
Shinichi Tachibana
The Japan Derby Race
1970
365 Nights
1962
Bloodiest Flower
1971
Four Hours of Terror
Captain Yamamoto
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
Kingoro Tamai
Gambler Biography
1968
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4
Kenichi Hanamura
The Path of the King
Ryutaro Fudo
Abashiri Prison
Shinichi Tachibana
The Domain: The Naniwa Story
1965
Tales of President Mito
Sukesaburo Sasa
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
Sasaki Kojiro
New Prison Walls of Abashiri 2
1969
Third Generation Boss
1974
Patience Has An End
Isamu Tekada
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 6
1969
Yukyo-retsuden
1970
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love
Hidejiro Hanada
The Bastards of Lawless Town
Fumio Sone
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: The Vagrant Comes to a Port Town
1969
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Whirlwind
Tarō Senpū
Buddies
Kadokura
Hell's Kitchen
1962
恐怖の空中殺人
島田寿夫
The Great Road
1960
Lightning Karate Blow
1956
Glorious Fights
Ichiro Takita
Abashiri Prison: Duel in Hokkaido
1967
The Domain: Severed Relations
1968
Midair Circus
1958
Rogue
Isamu Oba
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape
1971
New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm
1972
A Fishwife's Tale
1961
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4
1967
A Hoodlum At The Risk Of His Life
1970
Detective Duel
1958
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny
1970
The Man
1971
Monsoon Son
1958
The Domain: White Blade
1967
House of Gamblers
1970
Samurai Geisha
Shimada Seikichi
Life of Hishakaku
1963
Brothers Serving Time
1969
I Am The Magician From Hell
1961
Brave Red Flower of the North
1970
Lullaby for a Tough Guy
1972
The Escape
1962
Great Jailbreak
Ichiro Kozue
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Eternity
1960
The Domain: Where The Blade Enters
1967
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter
1971
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the Snow Country
1966
Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues
Tarô Mannen
続べらんめぇ芸者
1960
G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization
1956
Eleven Gangsters
Sawagami
Histories of the Chivalrous
1968
The Domain: Duel at Thunder Gate
1966
The Kamikaze Guy
Fumio Kuroki
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Rush
1960
The Happy Family
1959
South Pacific Waves Are High
1962
Operation Diamond
1962
Man of Thirteen Eyes
1958
If You're Man Enough
1960
The Sand City in Manchuria
Hari
The detective whose path was crossed by a snake
1995
The Deep Blue Sea
1957
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stray Wolf in Snow
1970
Sister with Sister
Hiroshi Ishioka
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri
1970
Tokyo Untouchable: Escape
Yoshio Harada
Delinquent Angel
1960
The Domain: Rising Dragon
1970
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
Shin-ichi Tachibana
The Silent Murder
1959
Dagger
1971
Storming Squadron
1960
Outlaw Under a Blue Canopy
1960
Blackmail
1963
Night of the Suspicions
久里 / 島
The Second Bullet is Marked
1960
Showdown of Men
1966
Jet Air Base 101
Jiro Nakata
Manchurian Sunset
Shintaro
Mother Peacock
1956
An Outlaw
Minami
The Boss
1965
Devil's Nursery Rhyme
Kosuke Kindaichi
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka
1962
A Dead Drifter
1959
Classmates
First Lieutenant Kenmochi
The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown
1966
Beyond the Seasonal Wind
1958
A Man's Dark Finger
1959
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the South
1966
Monsoon Son Pt.2
1958
The Counterfeiters
1959
The Bullet and the Horse
1966
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 3
1960
Song of Kagoshima
Shuhei Tategami
Code of Chivalry
1967
His Pistol is Hell
1958
The Prickly-Mouthed Geisha Goes to Sado
1961
Defeat the Boss
1963
Men Fighting Whales
Yosuke Yamagami
Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil
Shin-ichi Tachibana
Path of Japanese Chivalry: Story of All-Out Attack
1975
Showdown in Blood
1957
With Songs in My Heart
1958
