Known For
Acting
Born
Feb 27, 1908
Died
Apr 06, 1984
Place of Birth
Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Credits
156 titles
Kazuo Hasegawa
Biography
Kazuo Hasegawa was a Japanese film and stage actor. He appeared in over 300 films from 1927 to 1963. Born to a sake brewing family in Kyoto, he first appeared on stage at age five in a theater run by his family as a side business. In 1918, he became a student of Nakamura Ganjirō I and performed kabuki in the Kansai region. He joined the Shochiku studio in 1927 and made his film debut in Chigo no kenpō under the name Chōjirō Hayashi. His good looks and graceful fighting style made him a major jidaigeki star, and he appeared in more than 120 films for Shochiku in 11 years, with the best works being directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. He moved to the Toho studio in 1937. On 11 November 1937, however, he was attacked by ruffians and his face slashed with razor blades. According to the historian Daisuke Miyao, "Even though there was no clear evidence, it was widely assumed that this violent incident was Shochiku's retaliatory measure against Hayashi's so-called betrayal." He recovered and changed his stage name to his real name, Kazuo Hasegawa. Hasegawa appeared in many successful films for Toho, including several "national-policy pictures with Chinese settings," such as Song of the White Orchid (1939) and China Night (1940), with co-star Ri Koran. He moved to Daiei Film in 1950 and continued appearing in the popular Zenigata Heiji series. He also appeared in many classic films including Kozaburo Yoshimura's The Tale of Genji (1951), Kinugasa's Gate of Hell (1953), and Kenji Mizoguchi's The Crucified Lovers (1954). He was appointed to Daiei's board of directors in 1957. To celebrate his 300th film, Hasegawa appeared in a new version of Yukinojō henge (known abroad as An Actor's Revenge) in 1963, directed by Kon Ichikawa. He left Daiei that year and continued to appear on stage and television, including starring in the second NHK Taiga drama Akō Rōshi in 1964. He also directed the Takarazuka Revue version of The Rose of Versailles in 1974.
Known For
Filmography
The Rose of Versailles III
Director
The Rose of Versailles -Andre and Oscar-
Director
Akō Rōshi
Ooishi Kuranosuke
An Actor's Revenge
Yukinojo Nakamura / Yamitaro the Thief
The Great Wall
The Demon of Sendai's Castle
Nakayoshi ondo: Nippon ichi dayo
Sabakareru Echizen no kami
The Casebooks of Zenigata Heiji: The Beautiful Shark
Mito Komon’s Journey to Ezo
Mito Komon
Zenigata Heiji Case Files: Enma's Nightly Ledger
Zenigata Heiji
晴小袖
風来物語 あばれ飛車
Scars of Honor
Chouemon Takakura
The Last Betrayal
Ryūtarō Tsumura
Jirocho Fuji 2: The Chivalrous
The Demon of Mount Oe
Shuten-dôji
The Casebooks of Heiji Zenigata: Beautiful Spider
Zenigata Heiji
The Two Musashis
風来物語任侠篇
Utamaro, Painter of the Woman
Kitagawa Utamaro
Actor Shark
The Ghost of Yotsuya
Iemon Tamiya
Jirocho Fuji
Shimizu no Jirocho
The Gaijin
The Woman and the Pirate
御崎庄五郎
Gambler and the Princess
Yatarô
Ambush at Iga Pass
Araki Mataemon
Nichiren and the Great Mongol Invasion
Nichiren
Hana no yukyo-den
Inochi wo Kakeru Otoko
The Loyal 47 Ronin
Kuranosuke Ôishi
Shogun's Holiday
The Magnificent Five
Secret of Naruto
Ninjō misui
Floating Vessel
Daiei Studio is Bustling
Case Files of Zenigata Heiji: The Cursed Coin
Zenigata Heiji
Tsukigata Hanpeita
Tsukigata Hanpeita
Aizome gasa
Case Files of Zenigata Heiji: The Human-Skin Spider
Nezumi Kozō shinobi komi hikae
Zangiku monogatari
Kikunosuke
Case Files of Zenigata Heiji: The Dead Beauty in the Bathhouse
Three Women Around Yoshinaka
Jirô-Yoshinaka Kiso
Migratory Birds of the Flowers
I Was Tokichiro
Nagasaki no yoru
Zenigata heiji torimono hikae: Dokuro kago