Tatsuya Nakadai (仲代 達矢, Nakadai Tatsuya, born Motohisa Nakadai; December 13, 1932) is a Japanese film actor.[1]
Tatsuya Nakadai | |
|---|---|
仲代 達矢 | |
 Nakadai in 2009 | |
| Born | Motohisa Nakadai (仲代 元久) December 13, 1932 Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1952–present |
He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including The Human Condition trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus Harakiri, Samurai Rebellion and Kwaidan.
Nakadai worked with some of Japan's best-known filmmakers—starring or co-starring in five films directed by Akira Kurosawa, as well as being cast in significant films directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara (The Face of Another), Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs), Kihachi Okamoto (Kill! and The Sword of Doom), Hideo Gosha (Goyokin), Shirō Toyoda (Portrait of Hell) and Kon Ichikawa (Enjō and Odd Obsession).
Biography edit
Nakadai grew up in a very poor family and was unable to afford a university education, prompting him to take up acting. He picked up a liking of Broadway musicals, and travelled once a year to New York City to watch them[citation needed]. Nakadai was working as a shop clerk in Tokyo before a chance encounter with director Masaki Kobayashi led to him being cast in the film The Thick Walled Room. The following year, he made a brief and uncredited cameo in Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai where he is seen for a few seconds as a samurai walking through town.[2] Nakadai's role in Seven Samurai was technically his debut as The Thick-Walled Room's release was delayed for three years due to controversial subject matter. His major breakthrough as an actor came when he was given the part of Jo, a young yakuza in Black River, another film directed by Kobayashi. Nakadai continued to work with Kobayashi into the 1960s and won his first Blue Ribbon Award for his role in Harakiri (his personal favorite among his own films) as the aging rōnin Hanshiro Tsugumo.
Nakadai appeared in two more Kurosawa films from the 1980s. In Kagemusha Nakadai plays both the titular thief turned body-double and the famous daimyō Takeda Shingen whom the thief is tasked with impersonating. This dual role helped him win his second Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor. In Ran Nakadai plays another daimyo, Hidetora Ichimonji (loosely based on King Lear from Shakespeare's play King Lear and inspired by the historical daimyo Mōri Motonari).
He taught and trained promising young actors including Kōji Yakusho, Mayumi Wakamura, Tōru Masuoka, Azusa Watanabe, Kenichi Takitō and others.[3]
In 2015, he received the Order of Culture.[4][5]
Filmography edit
Film edit
Animated film edit
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Kanashimi no Belladonna | The Devil | Eiichi Yamamoto | |
| 1983 | Final Yamato | Narrator | Tomoharu Katsumata / Yoshinobu Nishizaki / Takeshi Shirado / Toshio Masuda | |
| 2013 | The Tale of Princess Kaguya | Sumiyaki no Roujini | Isao Takahata | |
| 2014 | Giovanni's Island[10] | Junpei Senō (Present) | Mizuho Nishikubo |
Theater edit
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Hamlet | Hamlet | Koreya Senda | |
| 1968 | Yotsuya Kaidan | Tamiya Iemon | Eitaro Ozawa | |
| 1971 | Othello | Othello | Koreya Senda | |
| 1974 | Richard III | Richard | Toshikiyo Masumi | |
| 1975 | The Lower Depths | Satine | Toshikiyo Masumi | |
| 1978 | Oedipus Rex | Oedipus | Tomoe Ryu (Yasuko Miyazaki) | |
| 1982 | Macbeth | Macbeth | Tomoe Ryu (Yasuko Miyazaki) | |
| 1990 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano de Bergerac | Tomoe Ryu (Yasuko Miyazaki) | |
| 2000 | Death of a Salesman | William "Willy" Loman | Kiyoto Hayashi | |
| 2001 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | John Falstaff | Kiyoto Hayashi | |
| 2005 | Driving Miss Daisy | Hoke | Ikumi Tanno | |
| 2008 | Don Quixote | Miguel de Cervantes | Ikumi Tanno | |
| 2010 | John Gabriel Borkman | John Gabriel Borkman | Tamiya Kuriyama | |
| 2013 | Bluebeard's Castle | The Bard | Michiyoshi Inoue | |
| 2014 | Barrymore | John Barrymore | Ikumi Tanno | |
| 2014 | Romeo and Juliet | Father Lawrence | Ikumi Tanno |
Television edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Shin Heike Monogatari | Taira no Kiyomori | Lead role, Taiga drama | |
| 1977 | Castle of Sand | Eitaro Imanishi | Lead role | |
| 1990 | 13 Assassins (Jusan-nin no Shikaku) | Shimada Shinzaemon | Lead role | |
| 1995 | Daichi no Ko | Kōji Matsumoto | Lead role | |
| 1996 | Hideyoshi | Sen no Rikyū | Taiga drama | [11] |
| 2004 | Socrates in Love | Kentarō Matsumoto | Special appearance | |
| 2007 | Fūrin Kazan | Takeda Nobutora | Taiga drama | [12] |
| 2014 | Zainin no Uso | Kenzō Haneda | ||
| 2015 | Haretsu | Kuraki | ||
| Hatashiai | Sanosuke | Lead role, TV movie | ||
| 2016 | Kyoaku wa Nemurasenai | Yōhei Tachibana | ||
| Cold Case | ||||
| 2017 | Henkan Kōshōnin | Narrator | TV movie | |
| 2020 | The Return | Unokichi | Lead role, TV movie |
Honours edit
- Chevalier De L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1992)
- Medal with Purple Ribbon (1996)
- Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2003)
- Person of Cultural Merit (2007)
- Asahi Prize (2013)
- Kawakita Award (2013)
- Toshiro Mifune Award (2015)
- Order of Culture (2015)
References edit
- ^ "Tatsuya Nakadai". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-10-08.
- ^ Stephens, Chuck. "The Eighth Samurai: Tatsuya Nakadai". Current. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
- ^ "無名塾公演「おれたちは天使じゃない」 @ウェスタ川越 大ホール". ARK. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ^ "Two Nobel scientists to receive Order of Culture award". The Japan Times. 2015.
- ^ "Tokyo: Tatsuya Nakadai Set to Receive Lifetime Achievement Honor". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 October 2019.
- ^ Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
- ^ "連合艦隊司令長官 山本五十六". eiga.com. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
- ^ The Battle of Port Arthur (203 Kochi) in the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "峠 最後のサムライ". eiga.com. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ "Full Trailer for I.G's Hand-Drawn Anime Film Giovanni's Island Posted". Anime News Network. 2013-12-18. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
- ^ "秀吉の出演者・キャスト一覧". The Television. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "風林火山". Haiyaku Jiten. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
Further reading edit
- Dowsing, Martin. The Face of an Actor - The Life and Films of Tatsuya Nakadai. Testudines, 2021. ISBN 9798476336891
External links edit
- The Eighth Samurai: Tatsuya Nakadai at the Wayback Machine (archived December 13, 2007) by Chuck Stephens
- Tatsuya Nakadai at IMDb
- Tatsuya Nakadai at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
- http://www.criterion.com/explore/195-tatsuya-nakadai
- http://www.tohokingdom.com/people/tatsuya_nakadai.htm
- https://www.amc.com/talk/2008/06/an-evening-with
