Kyōko Kagawa
| Kyōko Kagawa | |
|---|---|
| A photo of Kyoko Kagawa in a fancy traditional dress, next to another woman.
Kyoko Kagawa (on the left) in a publicity image for the 1952 movie Mother
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| Native name | 香川 京子 |
| Born | Kyoko Ikebe[citation needed] 5 December 1931 Tokyo, Japan |
| Other names | Kyoko Makino (牧野 香子) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1950–Present |
Kyōko Kagawa (香川 京子 Kagawa Kyōko?, born 5 December 1931) is a Japanese actress famous for her roles in films like Tokyo Story, Sansho the Bailiff and High and Low. She has appeared in 118 films.[1] Her most recent film was Ballad in 2009.
Biography
Kagawa was born in Tokyo[2] in 1931. She originally wanted to become a ballerina. She was discovered by a film studio after winning a beauty contest and began a career in acting. Her first major film role was in a movie Mado Kara Tobidase (Jump Out of the Window).[2]
She became a household name for her role in Tokyo Story in 1953. She also appeared in the famous film Sansho the Bailiff. Akira Kurosawa made her one of his regular performers. She played the love interest of Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa's favorite leading man, several times. Kurosawa used her in The Bad Sleep Well, High and Low and Red Beard.[3]
In 1965, Kagawa married and followed her husband to New York City. From this point, she began to act more in television than on the big screen. She later returned to the cinema, with films like Madadayo and Ballad.
In late 2011, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, honored her long career and her contribution to Japanese cinema with an exhibition titled 'Kyoko Kagawa, Film Actress.'
Selected filmography
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- Tokyo Heroine (1950)
- Man in the Storm (1950)
- Mother (1952)
- Tokyo Story (1953)
- Love Letter (1953)
- Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
- The Crucified Lovers (1954)
- Onna no Koyomi (1954)
- Christ in Bronze (1956)
- Shūu (1956)
- An Osaka Story (1957)
- The Lower Depths (1957)
- A Holiday in Tokyo (1958)
- The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
- The Story of Osaka Castle (1961) as Ai[4]
- High and Low (1963)
- Red Beard (1965)
- Tora-san's Dream of Spring (1979)
- Madadayo (1993)
- After Life (1998)
