Osman Yusuf

Osman Yusuf (; May 23, 1920 - August 29, 1982) was a Japanese actor of Tatar descent.

Biography Osman Yusuf was born on May 23, 1920, in Istanbul. His parents were a Tatar emigrants who emigrated from Russia after the October Revolution. Later they moved to Japan.

Due to his family's difficult circumstances, he earned a living as a wrestler. Then, with the development of Japanese cinema, when European-looking actors were needed for certain roles, he began to try his hand at acting. Along with Gabdullah, Safa became the first actor to play European characters in Japanese films.

The first movie with Osman Yusuf as an actor was Raigekitai Shutsudō (1944), where he played an American pilot. Then with the next actor of Tatar descent, Gabdulla Safa, he starred in Akira Kurosawa's Sanshiro Sugata Part II (1945), where he played an American sailor. Later Osman Yusuf and Gabdulla Safa were unjustly arrested and sentenced to hard labor, because Turkey declared war on Germany and Japan. After his release he worked at Meiji University.

He continued to actively appear in films before his death on August 29, 1982. He became widely known for his roles in other Japanese movies, including Gekko Kamen - Akuma no Saigo (1959), Mothra (1961), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) and Nippon Chinbotsu (1973).

Filmography 1959: Battle in Outer Space 1961: Daredevil in the Castle 1961: Pigs and Battleships 1961: Mothra 1969: All Monsters Attack 1974: Prophecies of Nostradamus 1976: Ningyo-tei ibun muhō-gai no moto (Fernsehserie) 1980: The Battle of Port Arthur