Isuzu Yamada
Known for: Acting
Isuzu Yamada (山田 五十鈴, Yamada Isuzu, 5 February 1917 – 9 July 2012) was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades. Yamada was born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada, the daughter of Kusudu Yamada, a shinpa actor specialising in onnagata roles, and Ritsu, a geisha. Yamada debuted as a film actress in 1930 at age twelve, appearing in the Nikkatsu film Tsurugi wo koete. She soon became one of Nikkatsu's top actresses, but it was her portrayals of strong-willed modern girls in Kenji Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion in 1936 at the new Daiichi Eiga studio that earned her popularity and critical acclaim. Moving to Shinkō Kinema and then to Toho, she became a star with Mikio Naruse's Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro (1938). During the second half of the 1950s, Yamada's main attention shifted towards the stage, but she still appeared in a number of distinguished films like Naruse's Flowing (1956), Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Twilight (1957) and Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths (1957) and Throne of Blood (1957). Other directors she worked with during this decade include Keisuke Kinoshita, Kaneto Shindō and Shirō Toyoda. In addition to her theatre engagements, she appeared on television, including the long-running Hissatsu series. Her last TV appearance was in 2002. Yamada died from multiple organ failure in Tokyo on 9 July 2012 at the age of 95. She was married four times, to actor Ichirō Tsukita, to producer Kazuo Takimura, to actor Yoshi Katō, and to actor Tsutomu Shimomoto. Her daughter with Tsukita, Michiko, became known as the actress Michiko Saga (1935–1992). Description above from the Wikipedia article Isuzu Yamada, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Filmography
Series
Hissatsu Shigotonin
Otowa
1979
Film
Yojimbo
Orin
1961
Film
Throne of Blood
Lady Asaji Washizu
1957
Series
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Joban
1966
Series
Akō Rōshi
Riku
1964
Film
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Self
1975
The Comb of Oroku
Okinu
1935
Film
Burden of Love
Some Kaita
1955
Film
Tokyo Twilight
Kisako Soma
1957
Film
Schoolgirl Records
1941
Film
The Shrikes
1961
Film
Hanjiro of Kusama: Bird of Passage
Otoku
1960
Film
Suspicion
Tokie Horiuchi
1982
Film
The Motherland Far Far Away
Masako
1950
Film
The Lower Depths
Osugi the Landlady
1957
Film
A Man from Akagi
1950
Film
Shogun's Samurai
Oeyo
1978
Film
Orizuru kasa
1951
Film
Home Sweet Home
Namiko, Kosaku's wife
1951
Banquet Under the Midnight Sun
Oichi
1932
Film
The Days of Evil Women
1958
Film
Osaka Elegy
Ayako Murai
1936
Film
Sisters of the Gion
O-mocha
1936
Film
Kurosawa
Self
2000
Film
Black River
Landlady
1957
Film
Bonchi
Sei
1960
Film
Oyuki the Virgin
Oyuki
1935
Film
Hiroshima
Mineh Obah
1953
Film
Buddha
Kalideva
1961
Film
The Body
1962
Film
Flowing
Otsuta
1956
Film
The Great Wall
Dowager Empress
1962
Film
Daredevil in the Castle
Yodogami
1961
Film
Five Men of Edo
Okane, Chobei's wife
1951
Film
If Indeed One Loves
Yaeko (segment 3)
1955
Film
Hebi hime dōchū
1949
Film
Miniature
Tamiko
1953
Film
Ameyuki-san
Waka Yamada
1979
Film
Man of Edo
1959
Film
Tange Sazen - Dai-ippen
1933
Film
A Lonely Woman in a Lonely Land
Sayo Yamada
1953
Film
The Orphan Brother
Yashio (voice)
1961
Film
Shozo, a Cat and Two Women
Shinako
1956
Film
Four Marriages
1944
Film
Zoku hebi hime dōchū
Film
The Shadow Daughter
Okinu
1957
Film
音楽大進軍
Isuzu Yamada
1943
The Spell of the Hidden Gold
1958
The Spell of the Hidden Gold
Chizuin
1958
Film
Downtown
Riyo Yazawa
1957
Film
Miss Hanaogi and Santa
1952
Film
Christ in Bronze
Kimika
1955
Film
荒木又右衛門
妻みね
1955
Film
Actress
Sumako Matsui
1947
Film
Deep River Melody
1960
Film
風来物語任侠篇
1959
Film
Glory on the Summit
Taka Hirooka
1962
Film
大当り男一代
お吉
1956
Film
Modern People
1952
Film
Woman Boss
1970
Film
Kagebōshi
お夏
1950
Hana no jitsugetsu
1949
Film
Five Patriots of Kyoto
1956
Film
Hear My Mother's Cry
1959
Film
The Undefeated Woman
1958
Film
Mission Accomplished
1960
Film
A Billionaire
Hanakuma
1954
Film
Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki
Oshiho
1939
Film
Lord for a Night
1946
Film
The Battle of Kawanakajima
Oshino
1941
誰よりも金を愛す
1961
Film
The Sculpture of Master Choji
Outa
1943
Film
Samurai Nippon
1957
Film
Musashibo Benkei
1942
Film
A Boy and Three Mothers
Natsu, the Foster Mother
1958
Film
Three Loves
Mother
1954
Film
Namida no hanamichi
江戸紫女将そよ
1956
Film
Four Sisters
Tatsuko Katagiri
1962
Film
The Revenge Champion
1931
Yukiko and Natsuyo
Natsuyo
1941
Film
Case of a Young Lord 9: Black Camellia
1961
How Sorrowful
1956
Film
Fencing Master
Oharu
1950
Film
The Inner Palace Conspiracy
Misawa
1951
Film
Princess Sen in Edo
Kisaragi
1960
Film
Growing Up
1955
Film
假名手本忠臣蔵
1962
Film
At the End of the Clouds
1953
Film
The Hidden Treasure
1959
Onna keizu
Otsuta
1942
Film
The Stand in Hakone
1952
Film
風雲金毘羅山
1950
Film
The Seasons of Love
Urako
1958
Film
Tsukigata Hanpeita
Somehachi
1952
Film
The Lovelorn Geisha
1960
Film
The Killing of Otsuya
Otsuya
1951
Film
Suronin Chuya
1930
Film
Disappearance in the Night
1959
Film
Koga Manshion
1949
Film
Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro
Tsuruhachi
1938
Film
Fireworks Over the Sea
Kaoru Uozumi
1951
Film
Farewell to Dream
Seiji's mother, Kiyo
1956
A Mother's Love
1950
Film
Satsuma-bikyaku
1951
Film
Goodbye to Glory
Otake
1960
Ichiyo Higuchi
Ichiyo Higuchi
1939
Film
The Horse Boy
1957
Film
江戸いろは祭
女房おなか
1953
Film
The Famous Sword Bijomaru
Sasae Onoda
1945
Film
Sakiko-san chotto
中川しの
1963
Film
Love in the Mountains
1959
Film
The Shop Curtain
1958
Film
Koi rōka
1949
Film
Minamoto Yoshitsune
1955
Film
Arashi Tatsunari
Tatsu
1982
Film
The Man Who Waited
1942
Film
A Matter of Valour
1957
Film
Bangaku no issho
1933
Film
Onatsu Detective Case: Mad Slasher
1960
木曽路の決闘 夏祭り三度笠
1951
Film
風来物語 あばれ飛車
1960
Film
The Canary Cage, Spellbound Love
1959
Film
Taikoki - The Saga of Hideyoshi
1958
Film
Sure Death! Brown, You Bounder!
Oriku
1985
Film
Zoku kagebōshi ryūkoaiutsutsu
1950
Film
Ishigassen
1955
Film
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Throne of Blood'
Self
2002
Film
Sure Death
1984
Professional Killer
1932
Yataro's Hat - Comings and Goings
1932
Film
The Man Who Disappeared Yesterday
1941
Film
The Greatest Man in the World
Oyae
1932
Happy Daughter
Michiko Yamada
1934
Film
The Downfall of Osen
Osen
1935
The New Tange Sazen: The Chapter of the Two-Armed Swordsman
1939
Film
The Way of Drama
1944
Film
365 Nights
1962
Film
Chutaro of Banba
1955
Film
Mother and Child
1956
Film
Karatachi no hana
1954
Such is Life
Oharu
1955
Film
振袖釼法
母つじ
1955
The Elegant Swordsman
1934
Film
In Search of Mother
Otose
1931
Film
The Song Lantern
O-Sode
1943
Film
The 26 Martyrs of Japan
1931
Series
Shin Hissatsu Shigotonin
1981
Film
Wild Lion
1953
Film
The Day Before
Osaki
1939
Film
The Fighting Firemen
Koina
1939
Film
Hirate Miki the Swordman
1954
Film
Until Victory Day
1945
Film
Miss Okichi
Okichi
1935
Film
Kurama Tengu: Acrobat in a lion mask
1951
Film
The Mandarin Room
Inako
1956
Martial Arts Encyclopedia
1934
Film
Pineapple Butai
Shigeyo (Mother)
1959
Film
Chushingura
Oishi Riku
1954
Film
Become a Mother, Become a Woman
Harue Yasukawa
1952
Film
Keshô yuki
1940
Film
The Siege of Osaka
Senhime
1937
Film
Japanese Ghost Story Masterpiece Theater: The Ghost of Yotsuya
1979
Film
Secret
1960
Film
Hinoki Butai
1946
Film
Kantaro of Ina
1943
Film
Devil’s Statue
1952
The Snake Princess
Oshima
1940
Film
Shanghai Moon
1941
Film
The Big Ambition
1955
Film
Castle of Revenge
1952