Kumeko Urabe
Acting
Born October 5, 1902 · Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Kumeko Urabe (Japanese: 浦辺粂子), born Kimura Kume ((木村 くめ)), (October 5, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was a Japanese movie actress, one of the first in the country. She worked on stage and in film and television. Urabe was born in a rural part of the Shizuoka Prefecture. She lived in several homes while growing up, as she relocated with her father, a Buddhist priest, among the temples to which he was assigned. Urabe completed her education in Numazu, and left school in 1919 to join a theatre company, touring under various stage names as an actor and dancer. In 1923, Urabe auditioned at the film studio Nikkatsu, and adopted the name Kumeko Urabe, by which she was known for the rest of her life. She appeared in her first film the following year, and continued to act until 1987. She worked with such directors as Kenji Mizoguchi and Mikio Naruse, and performed in over 320 films, including Ikiru, Older Brother, Younger Sister, Portrait of Madame Yuki, She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum, and Street of Shame. She also starred in television dramas, including thirteen episodes of Toshiba Sunday Theatre between 1958 and 1980. In the following decade, she carved a niche as a Grandma idol, until her death in 1989.
Films (180)
Hachiko
1987
Lonely Heart
1985
The Cold-Hearted Sea
1984
Lovely Days
1984
Checkers in Tan Tan tanuki
1984
Before Spring
1980
Tora-san's Pure Love
1976
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
1975
Stray Dog
1973
Onna Ikitemasu: Sakariba Wataridori
1972
The Secret Ceremony
1971
Adults Games
1971
喜劇 右向けェ左！
1970
The Final Gamble
1970
The Bad Guy Blues
1969
Girl in College
1969
Season of Tears
1969
Koi no otome kawa
1969
I Sell My Husband
1968
Two in the Shadow
1967
Eyes, the Sea and a Ball
1967
Yanagase Blues
1967
Flower Cards Chivalry
1967
Game of Chance
1966
The Pretty Jade
1966
Nocturnal Lights
1966
Moment of Terror
1966
Women Doing Time
1966
Four and A Half Mats
1966
Secret Club 000
1965
The Passionate Spinster
1965
An Innocent Witch
1965
Chained Bitch
1965
Dupe
1965
Color
1965
Night Scandal
1964
Destroyer Yukikaze
1964
Jakoman and Tetsu
1964
Yearning
1964
We Are Salarymen
1963
18 Roughs
1963
Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp
1963
Uogashi no senpū musume
1963
Teinen Taishoku
1963
Parakin to Kyū-chan mōshiwakenai yarō-tachi
1962
Irresponsible Rascal of Japan
1962
Being Two Isn't Easy
1962
The Body
1962
Gakusei geisha koi to kenka
1962
Kyū-chan ondo
1962
The Salaryman's Carefree Life: What a Relaxed Job This Is!
1962
The Broken Commandment
1962
Eriko
1962
Kono ni uruwashi
1962
湖愁
1962
Teppo Yasu no Shogai
1962
Haru no sanmyaku
1962
Night Mist Makes Women Cry
1962
Nippon no obaachan
1962
Love's Family Tree
1961
Refresher Course for Wives
1961
Love and the Shop Curtain
1961
Tsukinode no ketto
1960
The Woman Who Touched Legs
1960
Scarred Yosaburo
1960
Irohanihoheto
1960
The Song Lantern
1960
Storm on the Silvery Peaks
1960
Victory and Defeat
1960
White Cliffs
1960
A Woman's Testament
1960
When a Woman Loves
1960
Floating Weeds
1959
Tokyo Omnibus
1959
Diary of a Substitute Doctor
1959
The Song of the Cart
1959
The Makioka Sisters
1959
Goodbye, Hello
1959
Yurakucho 0 Street
1958
A Grain of Wheat
1958
Flower's Yearning
1958
Confronting Fear
1958
The Cat Knew
1958
The Precipice
1958
A Bridge for Two Alone
1958
Mother
1958
Hibi no haishin
1958
Stakeout
1958
Tokyo Eyes
1958
Inazuma Kaidō
1957
Elegy of the North
1957
Fighting Letter for 29 People
1957
Snow Country
1957
Tokyo Twilight
1957
続二等兵物語 決戦体制の巻
1957
Typhoon Over Nagasaki
1957
Itohan Monogatari
1957
Young Lovers
1957
Sound in the Mist
1956
Training Ship of Yearning
1956
Bridge of Japan
1956
俺は死なない
1956
Children Seeking a Mother
1956
Seishun no oto
1956
Twice on a Certain Night
1956
Yaneura no Onna-tachi
1956
刑事部屋
1956
Street of Shame
1956
Dadakko Shachou
1956
Early Spring
1956
She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
1955
Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree
1955
House of Many Pleasures
1955
The Refugee
1955
Fantasy of Youth
1955
The Magistrate
1955
A Woman's Life
1955
A Man Among Men
1955
Victory or Defeat
1954
Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky
1954
Twenty-Four Eyes
1954
Submarine Ro Hasn't Surfaced
1954
The Story of Shunkin
1954
東京シンデレラ娘
1954
The Golden Demon
1954
A Certain Woman
1954
Koina no Ginpei
1954
The Wild Geese
1953
Brother and Sister
1953
Bot-chan
1953
An Heir's Place
1953
Where Chimneys Are Seen
1953
Kanpai! Tokyo Musume
1952
Oka wa hanazakari
1952
Ikiru
1952
Lightning
1952
母子鶴
1952
Shi no machi wo nogarete
1952
A Ripple in a Morning
1952
母山彦
1952
Wedding March
1951
The Life of a Horse Trader
1951
Repast
1951
Hibari no komoriuta
1951
Oogonju
1950
Portrait of Madame Yuki
1950
A Mother's Love
1950
Snow-Flake
1950
Duel in the Sun
1950
Akireta musumetachi
1949
Ginza Cancan Girls
1949
The Rainbow Man
1949
Nocturnal Gate
1948
Women of the Night
1948
Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
1947
A Face Glowing at Night
1946
Aru yo no seppun
1946
瓢箪から出た駒
1946
Iku-san ga
1946
Who Is the Criminal?
1945
Saigo no kikyō
1945
The Man From Chungking
1943
The Tiger of Malaya
1943
New Snow
1942
Passion to Soar
1941
Ie naki musume
1939
Ah, My Hometown
1938
The Straits of Love and Hate
1937
Tsuki yori no shisha
1934
The Feast of Gion
1933
The Water Magician
1933
Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen
1931
The 26 Martyrs of Japan
1931
And Yet They Go On
1931
Mistress of a Foreigner
1930
Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue
1927
日輪 前篇
1926
Osumi and Her Mother
1924
Moken no himitsu
1924
Seisaku no tsuma
1924