Isuzu Yamada

was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades.

Life and career Yamada was born in Osaka on 5 February 1917, as Mitsu Yamada, the daughter of Kusudu Yamada, and Ritsu, a geisha. Under her mother's influence, she began learning nagauta and Japanese traditional dance from the age of six. Moving to Shinkō Kinema and then to Toho, she became a star with Mikio Naruse's Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro (1938), appearing at the side of Kazuo Hasegawa. She married leftist actor Yoshi Katō, her third husband, Her last TV appearance was in 2002. 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). and in 1956 for Boshizō, A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women, and Flowing. She also received the Blue Ribbon Award For Best Supporting Actress in 1955 for Takekurabe and Ishigassen. In 1995, she received a Special Award from the Chairman of the Japan Academy in honour of her lifetime achievements in cinema.

For her work on stage, she has been awarded at the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Arts Festival three times for the plays Tanuki (1974), Aizome Takao (1977), and Daiyu-san (1983).

She was named a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 1993 and became the first actress to receive the Order of Culture in 2000.

Filmography (selected) Film

Year Title Role Director 1930 Ken o koete Okayo Kunio Watanabe 1934 Aizō Tōge Utakichi Bando Kenji Mizoguchi 1935 Orizuru Osen Osen Kenji Mizoguchi 1936 Osaka Elegy Ayako Murai Kenji Mizoguchi Sisters of the Gion Younger sister Omocha Kenji Mizoguchi 1938 Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro Tsuruhachi Mikio Naruse 1941 Kinō kieta otoko Kotomi Masahiro Makino 1943 The Song Lantern Osode Mikio Naruse 1946 Aru yo no Tonosama Omitsu Teinosuke Kinugasa 1950 A Mother's Love Mitsuko Hiroshi Shimizu 1951 Home Sweet Home Namiko Uemura Noboru Nakamura Fireworks over the Sea Kaoru Uozumi Keisuke Kinoshita 1952 Gendai-jin Mrs. Shinako Minoru Shibuya Hakone fūunroku Ritsu Satsuo Yamamoto1953 Epitome Tamiko Kaneto Shindo Hiroshima Mine Oba Hideo Sekigawa 1954 Tōjin Okichi Tōjin Okichi Mitsuo Wakasugi 1955 Takekurabe Okichi Heinosuke Gosho Christ in Bronze Kimika Minoru Shibuya 1956 Boshizō Yukiko Izumi Kiyoshi Saeki A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women Shinako Shirō Toyoda Flowing Tsutaya Mikio Naruse 1957 Throne of Blood Lady Asaji Washizu Akira Kurosawa Black River Mikiko Masaki Kobayashi Tokyo Twilight Kikuko Yasujirō Ozu The Lower Depths Osugi Akira Kurosawa 1961 The Littlest Warrior Yashio Taiji Yabushita/Yūgo Serikawa Yojimbo Orin Akira Kurosawa The Story of Osaka Castle Yodogimi Hiroshi Inagaki 1975 Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director Herself Kaneto Shindo 1978 Shogun's Samurai Oeyo Kinji Fukasaku 1982 Suspicion Tokie Horiuchi Yoshitarō Nomura 1984 Hissatsu: Sure Death Oriku Masahisa Sadanaga

Television