Known For
Acting
Born
Nov 28, 1909
Died
Mar 21, 1977
Place of Birth
Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan
Credits
228 titles
Kinuyo Tanaka
Biography
Kinuyo Tanaka (田中 絹代 Tanaka Kinuyo, 29 November 1909 – 21 March 1977) was a Japanese actress and director. Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. She became a leading actress at seventeen years old, appearing in Heinosuke Gosho's An Embarrassing Dream in 1927. She proceeded to take leading parts in, among others, Yasujirō Ozu's I Graduated, But... in 1929, Gosho's Aiyoku no ki in 1930, and in 1931, Japan's first talkie, The Neighbor's Wife and Mine, directed by Gosho. She had a close working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi, having parts in 15 of his films, including leading roles in The Life of Oharu (1952), Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954). Their working relationship ended when Mizoguchi countered a recommendation from the Directors Guild of Japan for the Nikkatsu studio to hire her as a director. Despite this, the production of her second film as director went ahead, but Tanaka never forgave Mizoguchi, and the reasons for his behaviour are unclear. She also played Noboru Yasumoto's mother in Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (1965). For her portrayal in Kei Kumai's Sandakan N° 8 she won the Best Actress Award at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival in 1975. Her last screen appearance was in 1976 in Kei Kumai's Kita No Misaki. Tanaka was the second Japanese woman who worked as a film director, after Sakane Tazuko (1904‐1975). Her first directing job was on the film Love Letter in 1953, and she made five further films in that role.
Known For
Filmography
Kinuyo Tanaka, a Woman We Talk About
Self (archive footage)
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
Self (archive footage)
Lullaby of the Earth
Cape of the North
Old Nun
Let's Go, Grandma!
Kiku Sasaki
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Self
Sandakan No. 8
Old Osaki
Sanbaba
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True
The Old Family Mistress
Mominoki wa Nokotta
Tsuta
Red Beard
Madame Yasumoto
Kono sora no aru kagiri
The Scent of Incense
Tsuna
Bright Sea
Nobuko Yazaki
Alone Across the Pacific
Youth's Mother
A Legend or Was It?
Shizuko Sonobe
Double Wedding
Mama, I Need You!
The Fencing Master
Oharu
A Wanderer's Notebook
Kishi, Fumiko's Mother
Love Under the Crucifix
Director
Girls of the Night
Director
Eternity of Love
Michi's Mother
Her Brother
Mother
The Wandering Princess
Director
The Three Treasures
Princess Yamato
Chikamatsu's Love in Osaka
Myokan
Hahakogusa
Shige Ozawa
The Eternal Rainbow
Fumi
Equinox Flower
Kiyoko Hirayama
The Ballad of Narayama
Orin
Sorrow Is Only for Women
On This Earth
Omitsu, Heiichiro's mother
Geisha in the Old City
Oei
Stepbrothers
Rie
Yellow Crow
Yukiko Matsumoto
Flowing
Rika Yamanaka / Oharu
The Storm
Women in Prison
Prison Warden
How Sorrowful
This Is Home
Confession
Forever a Woman
Neighbor's Wife
Tsukiyo no kasa
Shōnen shikeishū
House of Many Pleasures
Oshige
The Moon Has Risen
Yoneya
The Woman in the Rumor
Hatsuko Mabuchi
Five Sisters
Sansho the Bailiff
Tamaki