Kinuyo Tanaka
Biography
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.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (49)
Kinuyo Tanaka, a Woman We Talk About
as Self (archive footage)
2022
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
as Self (archive footage)
2009
Lullaby of the Earth
1976
Cape of the North
as Old Nun
1976
Let's Go, Grandma!
as Kiku Sasaki
1975
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
as Self
1975
Sandakan No. 8
as Old Osaki
1974
Sanbaba
1974
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True
as the old family mistress
1972
Red Beard
as Madame Yasumoto
1965
Kono sora no aru kagiri
1964
The Scent of Incense
as Tsuna
1964
Bright Sea
as Nobuko Yazaki
1963
Alone Across the Pacific
as Youth's Mother
1963
A Legend or Was It?
as Shizuko Sonobe
1963
Double Wedding
1963
Mama, I Need You!
1962
The Fencing Master
as Oharu
1962
A Wanderer's Notebook
as Kishi, Fumiko's mother
1962
Love Under the Crucifix
Director (Directing)
1962
Girls of the Night
Director (Directing)
1961
Wakarete ikiru toki mo
as Michi's Mother
1961
Her Brother
as Mother
1960
The Wandering Princess
Director (Directing)
1960
The Three Treasures
as Princess Yamato
1959
Chikamatsu's Love in Osaka
as Myokan
1959
Hahakogusa
as Shige Ozawa
1959
The Eternal Rainbow
as Fumi
1958
Equinox Flower
as Kiyoko Hirayama
1958
The Ballad of Narayama
as Orin
1958
Sorrow Is Only for Women
1958
On This Earth
as Omitsu, Heiichiro's mother
1957
Geisha in the Old City
as Oei
1957
Stepbrothers
as Rie
1957
Yellow Crow
as Yukiko Matsumoto
1957
Flowing
as Rika Yamanaka / Oharu
1956
The Storm
1956
Women in Prison
as Prison Warden
1956
How Sorrowful
1956
Confession
1956
Forever a Woman
as Neighbor's Wife
1955
Tsukiyo no kasa
1955
Shōnen shikeishū
1955
(Street of Wandering Pigeons) When Will the Birds Come Home
as Oshige
1955
The Moon Has Risen
as Yoneya
1955
The Woman in the Rumor
as Hatsuko Mabuchi
1954
Five Sisters
1954
Sansho the Bailiff
as Tamaki
1954
Love Letter
as Landlady
1953
