Person
Kinuyo Tanaka
Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan
Kinuyo Tanaka (田中 絹代 Tanaka Kinuyo, 29 November 1909 – 21 March 1977) was a Japanese actress and director. Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. She became…
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Kinuyo Tanaka (田中 絹代 Tanaka Kinuyo, 29 November 1909 – 21 March 1977) was a Japanese actress and director. Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. She became a leading actress at seventeen years old, appearing in Heinosuke Gosho's An Embarrassing Dream in 1927. She proceeded to take leading parts in, among others, Yasujirō Ozu's I Graduated, But... in 1929, Gosho's Aiyoku no ki in 1930, and in 1931, Japan's first talkie, The Neighbor's Wife and Mine, directed by Gosho. She had a close working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi, having parts in 15 of his films, including leading roles in The Life of Oharu (1952), Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954). Their working relationship ended when Mizoguchi countered a recommendation from the Directors Guild of Japan for the Nikkatsu studio to hire her as a director. Despite this, the production of her second film as director went ahead, but Tanaka never forgave Mizoguchi, and the reasons for his behaviour are unclear. She also played Noboru Yasumoto's mother in Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (1965). For her portrayal in Kei Kumai's Sandakan N° 8 she won the Best Actress Award at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival in 1975. Her last screen appearance was in 1976 in Kei Kumai's Kita No Misaki. Tanaka was the second Japanese woman who worked as a film director, after Sakane Tazuko (1904‐1975). Her first directing job was on the film Love Letter in 1953, and she made five further films in that role.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2022
Kinuyo Tanaka, a Woman We Talk About
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2009
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1976
Lullaby of the Earth
Movie
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1976
Cape of the North
Movie Old Nun
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1975
Let's Go, Grandma!
Movie Kiku Sasaki
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1975
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Movie Self
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1974
Sandakan No. 8
Movie Old Osaki
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1974
Sanbaba
Movie
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1972
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True
Movie 旧家的夫人
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1970
Mominoki wa Nokotta
TV show Tsuta
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1965
Red Beard
Movie Madame Yasumoto
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1964
Kono sora no aru kagiri
Movie
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1964
The Scent of Incense
Movie Tsuna
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1963
Bright Sea
Movie Nobuko Yazaki
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1963
Alone Across the Pacific
Movie Youth's Mother
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1963
A Legend or Was It?
Movie Shizuko Sonobe
More credits
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1963
Double Wedding
Movie
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1962
Mama, I Need You!
Movie
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1962
The Fencing Master
Movie Oharu
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1962
A Wanderer's Notebook
Movie Kishi, Fumiko's Mother
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1962
Love Under the Crucifix
Movie Director
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1961
Girls of the Night
Movie Director
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1961
Eternity of Love
Movie Michi's Mother
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1960
Her Brother
Movie Mother
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1960
The Wandering Princess
Movie Director
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1959
The Three Treasures
Movie Princess Yamato
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1959
Chikamatsu's Love in Osaka
Movie Myokan
-
1959
Hahakogusa
Movie Shige Ozawa
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1958
The Eternal Rainbow
Movie Fumi
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1958
Equinox Flower
Movie Kiyoko Hirayama
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1958
The Ballad of Narayama
Movie Orin
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1958
Sorrow Is Only for Women
Movie
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1957
On This Earth
Movie Omitsu, Heiichiro's mother
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1957
Geisha in the Old City
Movie Oei
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1957
Stepbrothers
Movie Rie
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1957
Yellow Crow
Movie Yukiko Matsumoto
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1956
Flowing
Movie Rika Yamanaka / Oharu
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1956
The Storm
Movie
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1956
Women in Prison
Movie Prison Warden
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1956
How Sorrowful
Movie
