Isuzu Yamada
Acting
Born February 5, 1917 · Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Isuzu Yamada (山田 五十鈴, Yamada Isuzu, 5 February 1917 – 9 July 2012) was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades. Yamada was born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada, the daughter of Kusudu Yamada, a shinpa actor specialising in onnagata roles, and Ritsu, a geisha. Yamada debuted as a film actress in 1930 at age twelve, appearing in the Nikkatsu film Tsurugi wo koete. She soon became one of Nikkatsu's top actresses, but it was her portrayals of strong-willed modern girls in Kenji Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion in 1936 at the new Daiichi Eiga studio that earned her popularity and critical acclaim. Moving to Shinkō Kinema and then to Toho, she became a star with Mikio Naruse's Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro (1938). During the second half of the 1950s, Yamada's main attention shifted towards the stage, but she still appeared in a number of distinguished films like Naruse's Flowing (1956), Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Twilight (1957) and Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths (1957) and Throne of Blood (1957). Other directors she worked with during this decade include Keisuke Kinoshita, Kaneto Shindō and Shirō Toyoda. In addition to her theatre engagements, she appeared on television, including the long-running Hissatsu series. Her last TV appearance was in 2002. Yamada died from multiple organ failure in Tokyo on 9 July 2012 at the age of 95. She was married four times, to actor Ichirō Tsukita, to producer Kazuo Takimura, to actor Yoshi Katō, and to actor Tsutomu Shimomoto. Her daughter with Tsukita, Michiko, became known as the actress Michiko Saga (1935–1992). Description above from the Wikipedia article Isuzu Yamada, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Films (150)
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Throne of Blood'
2002
Kurosawa
2000
Sure Death! Brown, You Bounder!
1985
Sure Death
1984
Suspicion
1982
Arashi Tatsunari
1982
Japanese Ghost Story Masterpiece Theater: The Ghost of Yotsuya
1979
Shogun's Samurai
1978
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
1975
Woman Boss
1970
Sakiko-san chotto
1963
The Body
1962
The Great Wall
1962
365 Nights
1962
假名手本忠臣蔵
1962
Glory on the Summit
1962
Four Sisters
1962
Buddha
1961
Case of a Young Lord 9: Black Camellia
1961
The Orphan Brother
1961
Yojimbo
1961
The Shrikes
1961
誰よりも金を愛す
1961
Daredevil in the Castle
1961
風来物語 あばれ飛車
1960
Deep River Melody
1960
Onatsu Detective Case: Mad Slasher
1960
The Lovelorn Geisha
1960
Hanjiro of Kusama: Bird of Passage
1960
Bonchi
1960
Secret
1960
Goodbye to Glory
1960
Mission Accomplished
1960
Princess Sen in Edo
1960
Pineapple Butai
1959
風来物語任侠篇
1959
Love in the Mountains
1959
The Canary Cage, Spellbound Love
1959
The Hidden Treasure
1959
The Days of Evil Women
1958
The Undefeated Woman
1958
The Spell of the Hidden Gold
1958
Taikoki - The Saga of Hideyoshi
1958
The Shop Curtain
1958
The Seasons of Love
1958
A Boy and Three Mothers
1958
Down Town
1957
Black River
1957
The Lower Depths
1957
A Matter of Valour
1957
The Shadow Daughter
1957
Tokyo Twilight
1957
The Horse Boy
1957
Throne of Blood
1957
The Mandarin Room
1956
Flowing
1956
Shozo, a Cat and Two Women
1956
How Sorrowful
1956
Mother and Child
1956
Farewell to Dream
1956
Namida no hanamichi
1956
大当り男一代
1956
Ishigassen
1955
Such is Life
1955
Christ in Bronze
1955
荒木又右衛門
1955
Minamoto Yoshitsune
1955
振袖釼法
1955
Ai Sureba Koso
1955
Growing Up
1955
The Big Ambition
1955
Chutaro of Banba
1955
Burden of Love
1955
Three Loves
1954
A Billionaire
1954
Karatachi no hana
1954
Hirate Miki the Swordman
1954
Chushingura
1954
Hiroshima
1953
Wild Lion
1953
At the End of the Clouds
1953
Miniature
1953
A Lonely Woman in a Lonely Land
1953
江戸いろは祭
1953
Modern People
1952
Tsukigata Hanpeita
1952
Devil’s Statue
1952
Castle of Revenge
1952
The Stand in Hakone
1952
Become a Mother, Become a Woman
1952
Satsuma-bikyaku
1951
Five Men of Edo
1951
Fireworks Over the Sea
1951
木曽路の決闘 夏祭り三度笠
1951
Kurama Tengu: Acrobat in a lion mask
1951
Home Sweet Home
1951
The Killing of Otsuya
1951
The Inner Palace Conspiracy
1951
A Man from Akagi
1950
風雲金毘羅山
1950
Fencing Master
1950
A Mother's Love
1950
The Motherland Far Far Away
1950
Zoku kagebōshi ryūkoaiutsutsu
1950
Kagebōshi
1950
Actress
1947
Lord for a Night
1946
Hinoki Butai
1946
The Sword
1945
Until Victory Day
1945
Four Marriages
1944
The Way of Drama
1944
音楽大進軍
1943
The Song Lantern
1943
Kantaro of Ina
1943
Onna keizu
1942
The Man Who Waited
1942
Musashibo Benkei
1942
The Battle of Kawanakajima
1941
Schoolgirl Records
1941
Yukiko and Natsuyo
1941
Shanghai Moon
1941
The Man Who Disappeared Yesterday
1941
The Snake Princess
1940
Keshô yuki
1940
Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki
1939
The Day Before
1939
The Fighting Firemen
1939
Ichiyo Higuchi
1939
Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro
1938
The Siege of Osaka
1937
Sisters of the Gion
1936
Osaka Elegy
1936
Miss Okichi
1935
Oyuki the Virgin
1935
The Comb of Oroku
1935
The Downfall of Osen
1935
Happy Daughter
1934
The Elegant Swordsman
1934
Martial Arts Encyclopedia
1934
Bangaku no issho
1933
Tange Sazen - Dai-ippen
1933
Banquet Under the Midnight Sun
1932
Professional Killer
1932
Yataro's Hat - Comings and Goings
1932
The Greatest Man in the World
1932
The Revenge Champion
1931
The 26 Martyrs of Japan
1931
In Search of Mother
1931
Suronin Chuya
1930