- Title: FILM: TAKAKURA Japanese tough guy actor Ken Takakura dies at 83
- Date: 18th November 2014
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (NOVEMBER 18, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY CHINESE FLAG FLYING CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, HONG LEI, WALKING IN FOR NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, HONG LEI, SAYING: "Mr Takakura was a Japanese artist familiar to the Chinese people. He played an important and active role in fostering cultural communication between China and Japan. We express our sympathies over his passing." JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 3rd December 2014 12:00
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- Location: China
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- Country: China
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA5JKF3KKVBLYXTCR66JE8A3LVO
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- Story Text: TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Ken Takakura, an actor known as "Japan's Clint Eastwood" for his portrayal of tough but principled gangsters in over 100 movies and who gained international fame in director Ridley Scott's "Black Rain," has died at the age of 83.
Takakura, who played alongside U.S. stars such as Tom Selleck and starred in movies directed by Sydney Pollack and China's Zhang Yimou, died on Nov. 10 of lymphoma, his office said on Tuesday (November 18).
Born Goichi Oda in Oita, on the southwestern island of Kyushu, Takakura got his start in film in 1955 when he dropped into an audition at Toei, one of Japan's biggest film studios, out of curiosity. He then lept to fame to become a permanent fixture in the Japanese film industry as the rough and tumble guy.
The top Japanese spokesman said that while he'd never met the actor in person, he will be sorely missed.
"We will remember him as taciturn and rough around the edges, yet full of warmth. He certainly was a large presence among us and I believe he enthalled all he met. I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences on his death," said the top Japanese spokesman Yoshihide Suga.
His death was even mourned by neighbouring China.
"Mr Takakura was a Japanese artist familiar to the Chinese people. He played an important and active role in fostering cultural communication between China and Japan. We express our sympathies over his passing," said Chinese Foreign minister Hong Lei.
He became known to international audiences through roles in Pollack's 1975 "The Yakuza," where he starred with U.S. actor Robert Mitchum, and the 1992 comedy "Mr. Baseball." In 2005 he appeared in Zhang's "Riding alone for Thousands of Miles."
But it was in the 1989 police thriller "Black Rain", where he played a Japanese policeman dealing with Michael Douglas in the role of an irritable New York cop, that he gained international renown. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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