Sadako Sawamura
Acting
Born November 11, 1908 · Asakusa, Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Sadako Sawamura (沢村貞子, Sawamura Sadako; 11 November 1908 – 16 August 1996) was a Japanese stage and film actress and essayist who appeared in more than 350 films between 1935 and 1976. Sawamura was born in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. After dropping out of Japan Women's University, she was active in left-wing theatre groups and was twice arrested for her political beliefs, spending over a year in prison with much of it in solitary confinement. She started acting in films in 1934, first at the Nikkatsu studio, later at Toho. She appeared in many supporting roles after the war, often working with director Mikio Naruse. Sawamura also acted in films by directors including Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita and Kaneto Shindō. Her brothers were the actors Daisuke Katō and Kunitarō Sawamura. Her autobiography Watashi no Asakusa has been translated into English as My Asakusa. She was married three times: to actor Shigeo Imamura (1931-33), actor Kamatari Fujiwara (1936-46) and subsequently to film magazine editor and critic Yasuhiko Ohashi (1968-96, though domestic partners from 1946 onward).
Films (238)
When Winter Comes
1985
Japan Beauty Story: A Woman Among Women
1975
The Street Car Game
1969
Waga koi waga uta
1969
My Brother, My Love
1968
Rose Buds in the Rainbow
1968
The Young Eagles of the Kamikaze
1968
Nunnery Confidential
1968
Thoroughbred Women Gamblers
1967
The Rickshaw Man’s Son
1967
Swift Current
1967
Flower Cards Chivalry
1967
Sayonara ressha
1966
Once a Rainy Day
1966
The Kii River
1966
A Sky Full of Tears
1966
Bad Reputation: Cherry Blossoms
1966
Night Bitch
1966
The Passionate Spinster
1965
Snow Country
1965
That Cute Girl
1965
Love on the Rainbow
1965
Salaryman's Medal
1965
Nami kage
1965
A Fugitive from the Past
1965
Eddy Currents of Life
1964
Whirlpool of Flesh
1964
Sweet Sweat
1964
Taiyou wo Daku Onna
1964
I'm a Bodyguard
1964
A Story from Echigo
1964
Youth Season Continued
1964
Night Scandal in Japan
1964
Mr. Giant's Victory Flag
1964
Miren
1963
At the Side of the Bridge 4
1963
Double Wedding
1963
Tale of Army Brutality
1963
The Life of Rikisha-Man
1963
Dokuritsu bijin-tai
1963
Crazy Operation: First Move
1963
Police Precinct: Backing Investigation
1963
At the Side of the Bridge 3
1963
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Chinese Restaurant
1962
Naite waratta hanayome
1962
Curry Rice
1962
Born in Sin
1962
Chûshingura
1962
Zoku aizen katsura
1962
Youth Season
1962
At the Side of the Bridge 2
1962
Ganko Oyaji to Edokko Shain
1962
Kyūjin ryokō
1962
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Onsen
1962
Glory on the Summit
1962
Star of Hong Kong
1962
At the Side of the Bridge
1962
Four Sisters
1962
Pig and Goldfish
1962
Ottamage ningyo monogatari
1962
Flower in a Storm
1962
Lady Sen and Hideyori
1962
Our Marriage
1962
湖愁
1962
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka
1962
In Search of Mother
1962
South Pacific Waves Are High
1962
A Roaring Trade
1962
Nippon no obaachan
1962
Wakai yatsura no kaidan
1961
The Catch
1961
Boss Takes to the Road
1961
Girls of the Night
1961
Toilet Manager
1961
Awamori-kun uridasu
1961
The Estuary
1961
Hikkoshi yatsure
1961
Door of Flowers
1961
Triangle Moods
1961
Romance Express
1961
Zero Focus
1961
Women of Tokyo
1961
Mahiru no wana
1960
Late Autumn
1960
Ponkotsu
1960
Towering Waves
1960
Dare yori mo kimi o aisu
1960
Jiyūgaoka fujin
1960
Hero of the Red Light District
1960
Youth in Fury
1960
New Third Class Executive: Husband Education
1960
The Dangerous Kiss
1960
Police Precinct Part 13
1960
Salaryman Idea Book: Concern for Success
1960
Storm on the Silvery Peaks
1960
Salaryman Idea Book: Man of Worrisome Episodes
1960
Hito mo arukeba
1960
Beyond the Hills
1960
The Wandering Princess
1960
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
1960
Pineapple Butai
1959
The Terrible Game
1959
The Human Wall
1959
Young Lovers
1959
Ripe and Marriageable
1959
Someday I'll Know
1959
Koko ni otoko ari
1959
The Cast-Off
1959
Good Morning
1959
Souls in the Moonlight III
1959
Whistling in the morning
1959
Police Precinct: The Woman Without A Face
1959
Echo Mountain
1959
People Waiting for Spring
1959
One Step to Happiness
1958
The Naked General
1958
Bright Young Maidens
1958
Beyond the Seasonal Wind
1958
Little Peach
1958
Fearless Opposition
1958
Romance Freestyle
1958
Souls in the Moonlight II
1958
Firefly Light
1958
直八子供旅
1958
Hibi no haishin
1958
Shinkon nanatsu no tanoshimi
1958
No Advice Taken
1958
The Adorable Trio
1957
Zokuzoku Ôban: Dotô hen
1957
The Blue Sky Maiden
1957
The Beauty Expert
1957
Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen
1957
When It Rains, It Pours
1957
The Betrothed
1957
Untamed Woman
1957
Morning Whistling
1957
Ôban
1957
Young Lovers
1957
The Rose on His Arm
1956
Love on Rainbow Island
1956
Bridge of Japan
1956
Cascading White Threads
1956
Gendai no yokubô
1956
Midori naru hito: kōhen ai no honryū
1956
Midori naru hito: zenpen wakare no yogisha
1956
A Wife's Heart
1956
The Lady Was Pawn
1956
Three Youngmen and a Dream Girl
1956
Avalanche
1956
The President Talks Bank
1956
Street of Shame
1956
Young Tree
1956
The President's Boss
1956
So Young, So Bright
1955
Iroha Elegy
1955
Ejima and Ikushima
1955
The Romance of Yushima
1955
Santōshain to onna hisho
1955
Next Door to Happiness
1955
Mother's Ambition
1955
Beautiful Days
1955
Life's Simple Pleasures
1955
Ofukuro
1955
The Big Ambition
1955
Frame of Snow
1955
Here Is a Spring
1955
Policeman's Diary
1955
お月様には悪いけど
1954
The Cock Crows Twice
1954
The Surf
1954
The Days of Youth are Days of Sadness
1954
The Valley Between Love and Death
1954
Geisha Hidekoma
1954
乾杯！女学生
1954
Late Chrysanthemums
1954
All of Myself
1954
Itsuko to sono haha
1954
Love Letter
1953
The Lovers
1953
Princess Finds Her Prince
1953
Tokyo Profile
1953
Dreaming People
1953
The Blue Revolution
1953
Sisters
1953
The End of the Night
1953
Miniature
1953
One Thousand Ryo Ship in the Wind and Clouds
1952
Oka wa hanazakari
1952
The Woman Who Touched the Legs
1952
Adolescence
1952
Shanghai Rose
1952
Four Asakusa Sisters
1952
Tokyo Sweetheart
1952
Forbidden Path
1952
Mother
1952
Third Class Executives
1952
Kin no tamago: Golden Girl
1952
The Life of Oharu
1952
Mr. Lucky
1952
Wedding March
1951
Dancing Girl
1951
The White Orchid
1951
Elegy
1951
A Man from Akagi
1950
Jiruba no Tetsu
1950
Beyond the Hills
1950
Guntō nanban-sen
1950
Spring Snow
1950
Onna no ryūkō
1950
First Love Questions and Answers
1950
Broken Drum
1949
The Flower That Crossed the Mountain
1949
Ishimatsu of the Forest
1949
Flame of My Love
1949
Goblin Courier
1949
Kōfuku no genkai
1948
Ghosts Die at Dawn
1948
Twenty-One Fingerprints
1948
Victory Song
1945
Miyamoto Musashi - Battle at Han'nya Hill
1943
Mother Never Dies
1942
Onna keizu
1942
Green Earth
1942
Sky of Hope
1942
A Man's Flower Road of Triumph
1941
Dancers of Awa
1941
Horse
1941
Kodakara fūfu
1941
Bellflower
1940
Wedding Day
1940
Toyuki
1940
Hideko the Cheerleader
1940
Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki
1939
Osanaki mono no hata
1939
Ichiyo Higuchi
1939
A Pebble by the Wayside
1938
Sōbō
1937
Passionate Poet Ishikawa Takuboku - Hometown
1936