Chōsuke Ikariya

was a Japanese comedian and film actor, and leader of the comedy group The Drifters. His nickname was .

Life and career 1931–1962: Childhood and early career Chōsuke Ikariya was born with the name on November 1, 1931, in Tokyo, Japan. During the war his family moved from their home in Sumida, Tokyo to the countryside in Shizuoka. There he took up a job as a factory worker as a young man. He also took up playing the double bass, a hint at his performer nature. He got rather good, too, performing in brass bands until he got a regular job with the " & His Mountain Playboys." It was a band that specialised in playing at G.I. bases at the time and had guitarist Takeshi Terauchi. However, during that time in his life he was one of the tallest members of the band, so he stood out. The audience often singled him out for never smiling, picking on him for amusement.

1962–1969: The Drifters In 1962, Ikariya joined The Drifters, an aspiring pop band that featured comedy routines in its performances of rock and roll music. Members joined and quit the band over the next two years until Ikariya, still persisting, became the leader of the five-member group. The band was able to scrape by though appearing on television afterwards, with Ikariya writing most of the material for the performances.

In 1966, The Drifters opened for The Beatles at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Ikariya had won the public's adoration by then and played a variety of fatherly roles on television and in film.

Filmography Films

Yume wa yoru hiraku (1967) - Apache Nani wa naku tomo zen'in shûgô!! (1967) Tenamonya yurei dochu (1967) - Doeman Togashi Dorifutazu desu yo! Zenshin zenshin matazenshin (1967) Dorifutazu desu yo! Totte totte torimakure (1967) Dorifutazu desu yo! Bôken bôken mata bôken (1968) Ii yu dana zenin shûgô!! (1969) Miyo-chan no tame nara zen'in shûgô!! (1969) - Chôkichi Dorifutazu desu yo! Zenin totsugeki (1969) Dorifutazu desu yo! Tokkun tokkun mata tokkun (1969) Onsen gerira dai shogeki (1970) Kigeki migimuke hidari! (1970) Kigeki kinô no teki wa kyô mo teki (1971) Za.Dorifutazu no kamo da!! Goyo da!! (1975) - Chokichi Ikari Seigida! Mikatada! Zeninshugo!! (1975) - Chotaro ikari Dreams (1990) - The crying demon My Sons (1991) - Jirō Katō Nagareita shichinin (1997) - Kihachi Mita Odoru daisosasen – The Movie (1998) - Heihachiro Waku 39 keihô dai sanjûkyû jô (1999) - Patient Go-Con! Japanese Love Culture (2000) - Chef Kawa no nagare no yō ni (2000) - Morishita Shiawase kazoku keikaku (2000) - Yuko's father Bayside Shakedown 2 (2003) - Heihachiro Waku My Lover Is a Sniper: The Movie (2004) - Gantaro Endoji (final film role)

TV Dramas Dokuganryu Masamune (1987) - Oniniwa Yoshinao Bayside Shakedown (1997, TV Movie) - Heihachiro Waku When the Saints Go Marching In (1998) Yomigaeru kinrō (1999) - Mogi Black Jack II (2000, TV Movie) Namida o fuite (2000) - Yuichiro Murata Shiroi Kage (2001) - Yoshizou Ishikura Gakkō no sensei (2001) - Chochiro asakura Psycho Doctor (2002) - Famous psychologist Anata no tonari ni dare ka iru (2003) - Goro Kazuma Good Luck!! (2003)