Ken Takakura

Ken Takakura

Ken Takakura (高倉 健, Takakura Ken), born Gouichi Oda (February 16, 1931, in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan), was a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brings to his roles. Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka. This subject was covered in one of his most famous movies, Showa Zankyo-den (Remnants of Chivalry in the Showa Era), in which he played an honorable old-school yakuza among the violent post-war gurentai. A graduate of Meiji University in Tokyo Takakura happened by an audition in 1955 at the Toei Film Company, and decided to look in. Toei found a natural in Takakura as he debuted with Denko Karate Uchi (Lightning Karate Blow) in 1956. Japan experienced a boom in gangster films in the 1960s as the Japanese people struggled with the generational differences between those raised in pre-war and post-war Japan and these were Takakura's stock and trade. His breakout role would be in the 1965 film Abashiri Prison, and its sequel Abashiri Bangaichi: Bokyohen (Abashiri Prison: Longing for Home, also 1965), in which he played an ex-con antihero. By the time Takakura would leave Toei in 1976, he had appeared in over 180 films. Takakura gained international recognition after starring in the 1970 war film Too Late the Hero as the cunning Imperial Japanese Major Yamaguchi, the 1975 Sydney Pollack sleeper hit The Yakuza with Robert Mitchum and is probably best known in the West for his role in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989) where he surprises American cops played by Michael Douglas and Andy García with the line, "I do speak fucking English". He again proved himself bankable to Western audiences with the 1992 Fred Schepisi comedy Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck. While he has slowed down a bit in his older years, he is still active. His most recent film was the 2005 Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles by Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ken Takakura, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For: Acting
Birthday: 1931-02-16
Place of Birth: Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan
Also Known As: Goichi Oda, 高仓健, Кэн Такакура

Movies List of Ken Takakura

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The Longest Tunnel

1982 Movie
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Black Rain

1989 Movie
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Operation Diamond

1962 Movie
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47 Ronin

1994 Movie
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A Dead Drifter

1959 Movie
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Never Give Up

1978 Movie
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Rogue

1968 Movie
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The Yakuza

1974 Movie
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Men Fighting Whales

1957 Movie
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Tokyo Untouchable

1962 Movie
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The Kamikaze Guy

1966 Movie
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Antarctica

1983 Movie
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Bad Angel

1960 Movie
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The Bullet Train

1975 Movie
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Mr. Baseball

1992 Movie
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Railroad Man

1999 Movie
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Kyōkatsu

1963 Movie
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Red Peony Gambler

1968 Movie
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Manhunt

1976 Movie
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An Outlaw

1964 Movie
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Golgo 13

1973 Movie
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Hell's Companion

1959 Movie
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The Outsiders

1958 Movie
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Mount Hakkoda

1977 Movie
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Buddies

1989 Movie
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Station

1981 Movie
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Dearest

2012 Movie
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Demon

1985 Movie
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Manchurian Sunset

1956 Movie
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Showdown in Blood

1957 Movie
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If You're Man Enough

1960 Movie
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Abashiri Prison

1965 Movie
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Wolves, Pigs & Men

1964 Movie
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All Rascals

1962 Movie
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The Man

1971 Movie
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Karate Cop

1982 Movie
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Winter's Flower

1978 Movie
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The Firefly

2001 Movie
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The Domain

1964 Movie
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The Homeless

1974 Movie
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Too Late the Hero

1970 Movie
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Lightning Karate Blow

1956 Movie
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Prison Boss

1968 Movie
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Choji Snack Bar

1983 Movie
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The Day the Sun Rose

1968 Movie
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The Path of the King

1971 Movie
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The Deep Blue Sea

1957 Movie
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Classmates

1967 Movie
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The Last Kamikaze

1970 Movie
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The Revolt

1980 Movie
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Romance Freestyle

1958 Movie
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Four Hours of Terror

1959 Movie
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Devil's Nursery Rhyme

1961 Movie
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Jet Air Base 101

1957 Movie
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Detective Duel

1958 Movie
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Sister with Sister

1958 Movie
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A Fishwife's Tale

1961 Movie
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Glorious Fights

1966 Movie
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Ken San

2016 Movie
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365 Nights

1962 Movie
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Man of the World 2

1960 Movie
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No Advice Taken

1958 Movie
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Patience Has An End

1971 Movie
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House of Gamblers

1970 Movie
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The Pledge

1972 Movie
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Eleven Gangsters

1963 Movie
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The Chivalrous Life

1967 Movie
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Jakoman and Tetsu

1964 Movie
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Samurai Geisha

1969 Movie
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Life of Hishakaku

1963 Movie
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Song of Kagoshima

1962 Movie
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The Drifting Avenger

1968 Movie
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Yakuza of the Present

1973 Movie
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Third Generation Boss

1974 Movie
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Brothers Serving Time

1969 Movie
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Gambler's Legacy

1969 Movie
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Bloodiest Flower

1971 Movie
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Man of Thirteen Eyes

1958 Movie
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Mother Peacock

1956 Movie
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The Escape

1962 Movie
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The Biggest Gamble

1969 Movie
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Man of the World

1960 Movie
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The Happy Family

1959 Movie
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Great Jailbreak

1975 Movie
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The Japan Derby Race

1970 Movie
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The Big Boss

1963 Movie
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Men in a Rough Town

1959 Movie
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Storm Party

1964 Movie
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Japan's Top Gangster

1973 Movie
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The Boss

1965 Movie
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Lady Sen and Hideyori

1962 Movie
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Showdown of Men

1966 Movie
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Dagger

1971 Movie
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See You

1988 Movie
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The Great Road

1960 Movie
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Hell's Juggler

1961 Movie
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Hell's Kitchen

1962 Movie
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The Chop Professor

1956 Movie
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Yukyo-retsuden

1970 Movie
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Gambler Biography

1968 Movie
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Meteor Karate Strike

1956 Movie