Toshiro Mifune
Toshirō Mifune (三 船 敏 郎Mifune Japanese Toshirō; born April 1, 1920 in Qingdao, Republic of China, † December 24, 1997 in Tokyo ) was a Japanese actor, film producer and director. He appeared in 134 films, was awarded about 60 different awards and was also known internationally.
Life
Mifune grew up in the coastal city of Dalian on the Japanese-occupied China. His father was the owner of the photo shop, already helped as a child in the Mifune. In 1940 he was drafted into the Army and served in the Air Force, where he produced aerial photographs.
Actually looking for a job as a cameraman, he received in 1946 in Tokyo a job in the film company Toho. His first leading role, a bank robber, he played in Senkichi Taniguchi Ginrei no Hate (1947). The role of the negative hero dominates among his early films, he appeared as a gangster in Yoidore Tenshi (1948) and as predators in Rasho - Mon ( 1950) on, also in the film The Hidden Fortress (1958 ) as a shady General Makabe. In his dynamic game Mifune also infuses humorous elements.
From 1948 to 1965 he played the lead roles in most films of director Akira Kurosawa. With his portrayal of an outsider among the seven samurai in Kurosawa's Shichinin no samurai (1954 ) Mifune achieved worldwide popularity. He stepped in Kurosawa's adaptations of western literature as a thief in Donzoko (1957) and in the Macbeth role in Kumo -no- Su- Jō (1957 ) and in Tengoku to Jigoku (1963 ) - the film adaptation of a crime novel by Ed McBain - on.
For his work in the films Yojimbo (1961) and Akahige (1965 ) he was honored at the Venice Film Festival with the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor and also subsequently received offers role in international productions. He has played, among others, in 1966 John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix, a Japanese racing team owner, 1968 in John Boorman's Hell in the Pacific, in the French-Italian production Soleil rouge (1971 ) and 1976 Admiral Yamamoto in Jack Smights Midway. His portrayal of Prince Toranaga in the American television series Shogun made him a wider audience in Germany known. Mifune was the only Japanese film actor who was able to prevail as an international star.
In 1962 he founded his own production company " Mifune Productions ", and had in 1963 with Goju -man- nin no Isan his directorial debut. In 1966 he established his own studio in Tokyo, and in 1981 he advanced to a private acting school. Due to mismanagement but the school had to be closed three years later.
His son Shiro Mifune ( b. 1950 ) is also an actor and producer, his daughter Mika is also an actress.