Noboru Ando

was a Japanese actor, writer, singer and former yakuza. He is known for utilizing his experiences as a criminal in his many roles in yakuza films. He had a large knife scar on his left cheek, the result of a brawl with a Korean gangster as a young man.

Life and career Noboru Ando was born in Higashi, Ōkubo, Tokyo, the oldest of four children to a father of samurai descent. After going to primary school in Yokohama he entered junior high in Manchuria, where his father was working, but returned to Tokyo to live with relatives when he was expelled. Ando was arrested in Hayama after 35 days on the run and served six years in prison.

Soon after disbanding his gang, Ando was approached by a producer from Shochiku. He had his first acting role in 1965's Blood and Rules, a film about himself. According to Ando, acting came easily to him as a result of his underworld life: "In Japanese, the only difference between yakuza and yakusha (actor) is one hiragana character," he has been quoted as saying. "All yakuza have to be actors to survive." Through the years he starred in several more films detailing his and his yakuza family's history, including Ando Noboru no Waga Tobou to Sex no Kiroku (1976), which depicted his sexual escapades while on the run from police. A farewell service was held on 28 February 2016 at Aoyama Funeral Home in Aoyama, Tokyo. It was attended by an estimated 700 people, including Nakajima, Junya Sato, Yasuo Furuhata, Tatsuo Umemiya, and Yoshiko Mita.

Filmography

(1965) Yasagure no Okite (1965) Tōbō to Okite (1965) Bōkyō to Okite (1966) Honō to Okite (1966) - Shin Nanjō By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him (1966) - Dr. Amamiya Ahendaichi Jigokubutai Totsugekiseyo (1966) Ōtoko no Kao wa Kuri Fūda (1966) Kyōkaku-dō (1967) Gyangu no Teiō (1967) Abashiri Bangaichi: Fubuki no Tōsō (1967) - Todoroki Zoku Soshiki Bōryoku (1967) - Kenji Kunisaki Nihon Ankokushi: Chī no Kōsō (1967) Hakuchū no Zansatsū (1967) Eighteen Years in Prison (1967) Eighteen Years in Prison: Kari Shutsugoku (1967) Nippon Ankokushi: Nasake Muyō (1968) Tarekomi (1969) - Mamoru Sagara Yakuza Hijoshi - Mushyo Kyodai (1969) Yakuza Hijoshi-chi no Sakazuki (1969) Soshiki Boryoku: Kyodai Sakazuki (1969) Showa Yakuza Keizu - Nagasaki no Kao (1969) Japan Organized Crime Boss (1969) - Ooba Yakuza Hijoshi-chi no Kechaku (1970) Sympathy for the Underdog (1971) - Shark The Wolves (1971) - Gunjiro Ozeki Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Arashi Yobu Shiretoko-misaki (1971) Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Fubuki no Dai Dassō (1971) Mamushi no Kyōdai: Orei Mairi (1971) Chôeki Tarō: Mamushi no Kyōdai (1971) Gyangu tai Gyangu: Aka to Kuro no Burūsu (1972) Street Mobster (1972) - Boss Yato Yakuza to Kōsō (1972) - Ando Yakuza to Kōsō: Jitsuroku Andō-gumi (1972) Showa Zankyo-den: Yabure-gasa (1972) Jitsuroku Andō-gumi Shugekihen ("The True Story of the Ando Gang: Attack") (1973) Jitsuroku: Shisetsu Ginza Keisatsu (1973) Gendai Ninkyō-shi (1973) - Mitsuo Kurata Jitsuroku Andō-gumi: Shūgeki-hen (1973) Violent Streets (1974) - Egawa Karajishi Keisatsu (1974) San-daime Shumei (1974) The Homeless (1974) Andō-gumi Gaiden Hitokiri Shatei ("The Untold Story of the Ando Gang: The Killer Brother") (1974) New Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1974) - Unokichi Kaizu Hijo Gakuen Waru - Nerikan Dokisei (1974) Ā Kessen Kōkūtai (1974) Graveyard of Honor (1975) - Ryunosuke Nozu Ando Noboru no Waga Tobou to Sex no Kiroku (1976) - Himself Genkai-nada (1976) - Kondo Sochō no Kubi (1979) - Shozo Hanamori The True Face of Shinjuku: The Story of the Shinjuku Delinquent Gangs (1997) Yakuza Tosei no Sutekina Menmen (1998) The True History of the Ando Gang: Rules of the Starving Wolf (2002) - Himself in the present day / Narrator Shibuya Monogatari (2005) - (final film role)