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Isuzu Yamada
Born: 5th Feb 1917 Osaka, Osaka, Japan - Died 9th Jul 2012
Dept: Acting
Isuzu Yamada (山田 五十鈴, Yamada Isuzu, 5 February 1917 – 9 July 2012) was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades.
Yamada was born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada, the daughter of Kusudu Yamada, a shinpa actor specialising in onnagata roles, and Ritsu, a geisha. Yamada debuted as a film actress in 1930 at age twelve, appearing in the Nikkatsu film Tsurugi wo koete. She soon became one of Nikkatsu's top actresses, but it was her portrayals of strong-willed modern girls in Kenji Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion in 1936 at the new Daiichi Eiga studio that earned her popularity and critical acclaim. Moving to Shinkō Kinema and then to Toho, she became a star with Mikio Naruse's Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro (1938).
During the second half of the 1950s, Yamada's main attention shifted towards the stage, but she still appeared in a number of distinguished films like Naruse's Flowing (1956), Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Twilight (1957) and Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths (1957) and Throne of Blood (1957). Other directors she worked with during this decade include Keisuke Kinoshita, Kaneto Shindō and Shirō Toyoda. In addition to her theatre engagements, she appeared on television, including the long-running Hissatsu series. Her last TV appearance was in 2002.
Yamada died from multiple organ failure in Tokyo on 9 July 2012 at the age of 95. 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).
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Film and Tv Credits
Total number of credits listed: 156
Film: 152 (97%)
Television: 4 (3%)
Remaining genres not in graph: Family, Fantasy, Thriller, Horror, Music
Filmography
Original title: 黒澤明～創ると云う事は素晴らしい～蜘蛛巣城
2002
Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Throne of Blood" (1957). ... view
Character:
Self
Original title: 必殺！ブラウン館の怪物たち
1985
When the Shogunates greatest secret is stolen, the fate of the nation hangs in the balance. The Shogunate sends an incompetent cop, Tanaka, to Kyoto t ... view
Character:
Oriku
Original title: 必殺! THE HISSATSU
1984
A group of seemingly ordinary merchants is really a band of assassins for hire. When they discover that all the assassins in Edo are being killed they ... view
Character:
Original title: 疑惑
1982
A car going at 25 mph plunges into the sea at Shinko Harbour, Toyama prefecture. Inside is the local business magnate Fukutaro Shirakawa, who perishes ... view
Character:
Tokie Horiuchi
Original title: 嵐立つなり
1982
Can a woman love two men at the same time? Set against the backdrop of Kyoto's rich history, this story depicts a woman's difficult choice for love. A ... view
Character:
Tatsu
Original title: 日本名作怪談劇場 四谷怪談
1979
Iemon Fukasawa, a masterless samurai, marries Oiwa but is repulsed by a dark mark on her face. He descends into alcoholism and starts an affair with O ... view
Character:
May 1979 (first aired)
Nakamura Mondo was relegated to a post in Hachioji from the Minamimachi Bugyōsho and he has retired from professional assassin. But one day he was or ... view
Character:
Otowa (333 ep.)
Original title: 柳生一族の陰謀
1978
Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the sho ... view
Character:
Oeyo
Original title: ある映画監督の生涯 溝口健二の記録
1975
In 39 interviews with actors and actresses, writers, producers and staff members, interspersed with film excerpts and stills, Shindō recounts the lif ... view
Character:
Self
Jan 1966 (first aired)
The chronicles of the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 - May 17th, 1189). He was a late Heian and early Kamakura general of the Minamoto clan of J ... view
Character:
Joban (52 ep.)
Jan 1964 (first aired)
"Ako Roshi" is a group of 47 former retainers of Lord Asano. Lord Asano was forced to commit suicide after attempting to kill Lord Kira. Once the reta ... view
Character:
Riku (52 ep.)
Original title: 裸体
1962
The sexual experiences of the passionate Sakiko, from her fling with her boss in her first job to her ending up as a prostitute. ... view
Character:
Original title: 秦・始皇帝
1962
In 221 BC, Qin Shihuangdi conquered the rest of China. Qin's great accomplishments and also his serious faults are showed in this film. Qin adopted au ... view
Character:
Dowager Empress
Original title: 三百六十五夜
1962
A touching drama about a love triangle between a young architect, Koroku, and two women, Ranko and Teruko. Ranko comes from a wealthy family and is of ... view
Character:
Original title: 山の讃歌 燃ゆる若者たち
1962
A treasury official passed over for promotion and obsessed with careerism interferes in the lives of his three sons, who seek escape from his relentle ... view
Character:
Taka Hirooka
Original title: 山麓
1962
A story about the lives of four sisters and their manipulative mother who must come to terms with each of their decisions in life. ... view
Character:
Tatsuko Katagiri
Original title: 釈迦
1961
An Indian prince leaves his world of comfort and riches behind to wander and meditate for six years in search of spiritual enlightenment. Siddartha (C ... view
Character:
Kalideva
Original title: 若さま侍捕物帖 黒い椿
1961
Escaping the hustle and bustle of Edo, the Young Lord came to Oshima Island in Izu to take a vacation. Unexpectedly, the island's boss, Amimoto, was b ... view
Character:
Original title: 安寿と厨子王丸
1961
After their father quarrels with local military men, Anju and Zushio are forced to flee, but they are captured and sold into slavery. When their mothe ... view
Character:
Yashio (voice)
Original title: 用心棒
1961
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the loca ... view
Character:
Orin
Original title: 大阪城物語
1961
During the raging war between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans, the swordsman Mohei (whose family has been completely decimated) is recruited by Toyoto ... view
Character:
Yodogami
Original title: 風流深川唄
1960
A poignant story about a young couple, Setsu and Chozo, who are torn apart to save Setsu's father's restaurant. ... view
Character:
Character:
Original title: 夜の流れ
1960
A woman and her daughter are in love with the same man, a chef at the restaurant that the mother manages. He is slightly crippled from frostbite in hi ... view
Character:
Original title: 草間の半次郎 霧の中の渡り鳥
1960
A kindhearted wandering gambler named Hajiro gets involved in a crisis of a village as he passes through and decides to lend a sword in hopes to rescu ... view
Character:
Otoku
Original title: ぼんち
1960
Kikuji is the scion of an Osaka merchant family whose traditional power is matrilineal. Instructed by his overbearing mother and grandmother to give t ... view
Character:
Sei
Original title: 予科練物語・紺碧の空遠く
1960
A story of an ardent young man who laid down his life for his country. ... view
Character:
Otake
Original title: 千姫御殿
1960
A gorgeous tragic love picture scroll depicting a beautiful woman who weeps over her strange fate and falters in her search for true love! ... view
Character:
Kisaragi
Original title: パイナップル部隊
1959
The story of the role played by Japanese-American soldiers from Hawaii in the Korean War of the 1950s. ... view
Character:
Shigeyo (Mother)
Original title: わかれ
1959
A mother and her daughter who run a quiet mountain hotel, and guests who visit the hotel. A girl who does not know what a broken heart is, the attract ... view
Character:
Original title: 愛情不動
1959
In 1940 Osaka, a celebrated shamisen performer lives fast as war and shifting tastes erode his fame. The daughter of a restaurant owner quietly loves ... view
Character:
Original title: 修羅桜
1959
Shochiku's commemorative 3000th film production; a suspenseful period drama. ... view
Character:
Original title: 悪女の季節
1958
The common-law wife and daughter of a wealthy old man plot to murder him and steal his fortune, with the help of their male acquaintances. ... view
Character:
Character:
Character:
Chizuin
Original title: 太閤記
1958
From birth Hideyoshi was a restless, defiant spirit--a child of the poorest of the poor. Cast out of his peasant cottage, he would live by his wits, d ... view
Character:
Original title: 暖簾
1958
The lives of a family of kelp (kombu) merchants in Osaka across three generations, spanning from the Meiji era through the aftermath of World War II. ... view
Character:
Original title: 四季の愛欲
1958
A family is slowly falling apart: the father is absent from the start, the mother a kept woman thanks to her children, the son is being cheated on by ... view
Character:
Urako
Original title: 下町
1957
A woman struggles to raise her young son on her own in postwar Japan, finding companionship with a kind laborer while still hoping for the return of h ... view
Character:
Riyo Yazawa
Original title: 黒い河
1957
A love triangle develops between a benevolent student, his innocent girlfriend, and a cruel petty criminal, all as a point of diagnosis of a social di ... view
Character:
Landlady
Original title: どん底
1957
Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man and an aging actor, get drawn into a love triangle that tur ... view
Character:
Osugi the Landlady
Original title: 大忠臣蔵
1957
Chushingura has been made into a movie several times before, but this time it will be presented in a widescreen version with all natural colors and a ... view
Character:
Original title: ひかげの娘
1957
Fusako, a girl raised in a geisha house, tries to escape her dark past and faces repeated heartbreaks. After an unexpected pregnancy, she has an abort ... view
Character:
Original title: 東京暮色
1957
Two sisters find out the existence of their long-lost mother, but the younger cannot accept the fact that she was abandoned as a child. ... view
Character:
Kisako Soma
Original title: 暴れん坊街道
1957
A humble page fathers a child by the daughter of a clan official and is banished. Years later, the child, now a stable boy, is reunited with his fathe ... view
Character:
Original title: 蜘蛛巣城
1957
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spi ... view
Character:
Lady Asaji Washizu
Original title: おしどりの間
1956
After running away from her mother, Ashiko works as a maid at an inn and changes her name, but she finds herself torn between her past and a new relat ... view
Character:
Original title: 流れる
1956
Otsuta is running the geisha house Tsuta in Tokyo. Her business is heavily in debt. Her daughter Katsuyo doesn't see any future in her mother's trade ... view
Character:
Otsuta
Original title: 猫と庄造と二人のをんな
1956
Shozo is plagued by the needs of his ex-wife and his current one, but prefers the company of his cat. ... view
Character:
Shinako
Original title: あやに愛しき
1956
The story of a novelist whose wife is confined in a mental hospital. His love for her drives him to write about her, though he runs into trouble when ... view
Character:
Original title: 夕やけ雲
1956
A coming-of-age story portrayed as the loss of all youthful illusions. Sixteen-year-old Yoichi dreams of becoming a sailor. His parents are fishmonger ... view
Character:
Seiji's mother, Kiyo
Original title: 涙の花道
1956
Nakamura Yukinojō, Edo's most popular actor, discovered that his parent's enemy, Ohara Genba, had changed his name to Isshiki Kurōnosuke and become ... view
Character:
江戸紫女将そよ
1956
Shinzō, the heir of the prominent Edo lumber dealer Yamashiroya, left home when his stubborn father, Chōzaemon, dismissed his lover, the maid Oyasu. ... view
Character:
お吉
Original title: 石合戦
1955
Across the Inagawa River that runs through the center of the village, the children of the two villages scrambled for a swimming pool, and each time a ... view
Character:
Original title: 青銅の基督
1955
Christian converts face persecution in the feudal society of 17th century Japan. ... view
Character:
Kimika
1955
Watanabe Kazuma and Kawai Matagorō from the Bizen Okayama Ikeda clan were close friends, but they inevitably became enemies after Matagorō killed Ka ... view
Character:
妻みね
Original title: 源義経
1955
A historical scroll depicting the story of the tragic fate of the young samurai Minamoto Yoshitsune, based on the novel by Genzo Murakami. The action ... view
Character:
1955
In Marugame Domain of Shikoku, a low-ranking foot soldier named Tagami Genbachi was envied for marrying Tsuji, the most beautiful woman in the domain. ... view
Character:
母つじ
Original title: 愛すればこそ
1955
The film consists of three short stories. Tomiko, the heroine of the first story, "The Flower Girl" (dir. Kozaburo Yoshimura), is a little girl who be ... view
Character:
Yaeko (segment 3)
Original title: たけくらべ
1955
A boy falls in love with a girl. Neither of them know that she's to be sold to a brothel. ... view
Character:
Original title: 番場の忠太郎
1955
Based on the play ”Mabuta no haha” by famed author Shin Hasegawa, this is the first major starring role for Tomisaburo Wakayama. This heartfelt st ... view
Character:
Original title: 愛のお荷物
1955
The female members of the family of the Minister of Health and Welfare, who has just proposed a program of birth control, become pregnant one after th ... view
Character:
Some Kaita
Original title: 三つの愛
1954
In a mountain village, Heita, a translator's son, is a gifted boy but is shunned by the villagers. He can imitate birds' cry and befriends another boy ... view
Character:
Mother
Original title: 億万長者
1954
An ethical, young tax collector new to his area encounters increasingly absurd individuals and groups coping with their post-war woes. ... view
Character:
Hanakuma
Original title: からたちの花
1954
This work depicts the poet Hakushu Kitahara's life, full of poetic sentiment, from his childhood to his youth. In his pursuit of literature, he was op ... view
Character:
Original title: 地獄の剣豪 平手造酒
1954
The man is chased by losing the beauty and preciousness of love and the foundation of life without overcoming the hardship of life. ... view
Character:
Original title: ひろしま
1953
Historical fiction about the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, and its effects on various civilians, especially c ... view
Character:
Mineh Obah
Original title: 勝海舟より あばれ獅子
1953
A gripping historical drama that follows the explosive growth of Katsu Kaishu, the hero of the Meiji era, and the interesting human image of his fathe ... view
Character:
Original title: 雲ながるる果てに
1953
A movie that depicts the tragic fate of many Yokaren flight-academy pilots. ... view
Character:
Original title: 縮図
1953
Ginko, a poor cobbler's daughter, becomes a geisha to support her family. She passes from one geisha house to the next, trying to find love and hope i ... view
Character:
Tamiko
Original title: 女ひとり大地を行く
1953
Onna Hitori Daichi wo Yuku (A Lonely Woman in a Lonely Land, Kinuta Production, 1953) was the second feature film directed by Kamei Fumio, who is know ... view
Character:
Sayo Yamada
1953
Hatamoto Akabane Tanaka once ruined his life with alcohol in his youth, leaving behind his wife and son, Hanji, to embark on a journey. He killed a ma ... view
Character:
女房おなか
Original title: 現代人
1952
A section chief at the Bureau of Construction is in a shady relationship with a construction company. Then a new, young and honest subordinate is assi ... view
Character:
Original title: 月形半平太
1952
During the ultra-violent era of the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate one man rose above the rest with his ideas of how to overthrow the corrupt gove ... view
Character:
Somehachi
Original title: 魔像
1952
A gallant swordsman takes on the forces of evil with the help of his trusty friends. ... view
Character:
Original title: 赤穂城
1952
The film vividly shows the misadventures of Oishi Kuranosuke and the human dramas inside the castle, which lead to the surrender of Ako Castle after s ... view
Character:
Original title: 箱根風雲録
1952
A period film about a peasant revolt in the region near Mount Fuji, occasioned by high officials' depriving the farmers of their water rights. ... view
Character:
Original title: 大江戸五人男
1951
During the 17th Century roving bands of hatamoto were causing trouble in the new capital city of Edo and constantly fought with the townspeople at eve ... view
Character:
Okane, Chobei's wife
Original title: 海の花火
1951
A fishing union depends on two brothers to make up the losses caused by the dishonest captains they replaced. ... view
Character:
Kaoru Uozumi
Original title: 鞍馬天狗 角兵衛獅子
1951
Two child performers lose their money, but are saved by the masked avenger Kurama Tengu. When the children return the favor in foiling an attempt on t ... view
Character:
Original title: 我が家は樂し
1951
The Ueki family may not be wealthy, but smiles are never in short supply. The father is awarded prize money for 25 years of service to his workplace, ... view
Character:
Namiko, Kosaku's wife
Original title: おぼろ駕籠
1951
A period mystery in which an unconventional priest exposes the truth behind the bizarre death of a maid in the shogun's harem. Kinuyo Tanaka stylishly ... view
Character:
Misawa
Original title: 殺陣師段平
1950
Swordfighting instructor Danpei works at a local theater in Tokyo, instructing the actors how to fight realistically. ... view
Character:
Oharu
Original title: 母情
1950
A bar girl tries to pass her three children, each from a different father, to rural relatives. ... view
Character:
Character:
Original title: 影法師
1950
On the night the shogunate's treasury was breached, the guard Utsugi had already been taken down. His colleague Ryunosuke felt responsible and decided ... view
Character:
お夏
Original title: 女優
1947
During the late Meiji period, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Sumako, a country girl, becomes a great actress with the help of Hogetsu, a s ... view
Character:
Sumako Matsui
Original title: 或る夜の殿様
1946
In 1887, two businessmen, Echigo-ya and Kitahara, compete for railroad construction authorization from the government. The minister states that a loca ... view
Character:
Original title: 檜舞台
1946
The story is set in a rural village, where the village mayor gives a speech at the local community center as a theater troupe visits the village for t ... view
Character:
Original title: 名刀美女丸
1945
In 19th-century Japan, a young swordsmith is determined to make the best sword possible after an inferior one he made indirectly led to the death of h ... view
Character:
Sasae Onoda
Original title: 勝利の日まで
1945
An Invention laboratory is working on the creation of a performance 'bomb' in the shape of a rocket that could be delivered to the front in order to e ... view
Character:
Original title: 四つの結婚
1944
Based on a short story by Dazai Osamu, produced under the national film law. The film's hero falls in love with the youngest daughter of a family he i ... view
Character:
Original title: 芝居道
1944
The Way of Drama unfolds in the world of kabuki in Osaka, but also addresses the politics of popular culture and the rivalry between theatrical styles ... view
Character:
Original title: 歌行燈
1943
A self-absorbed young actor humiliates an elderly Noh performer, who then commits suicide. His act of cruelty compels his father to disown him, leadin ... view
Character:
O-Sode
Character:
Character:
Otsuta
Original title: 待って居た男
1942
A bizarre murder at a hot springs resort threatens to disrupt an Edo detective's (Hasegawa) vacation. When his hot-blooded wife (Yamada) starts snoop ... view
Character:
Original title: 武蔵坊辨慶
1942
A 1942 Jidaigeki by the veteran jidaigeki filmmaker Kunio Watanabe about the legendary warrior Musashibo Benkei
with Hideko Takamine portraying Minam ... view
Character:
Original title: 川中島合戰
1941
This epic depicts the battle between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. The focus of the story is the struggle by the unit leader in charge of the mai ... view
Character:
Oshino
Original title: 女学生記
1941
A "slice-of life" film about a group of high school girls in 1940s Japan. ... view
Character:
Original title: 雪子と夏代
1941
Adaptation of a novel by Nobuko Yoshiya that was serialized in "Shufu no tomo" between 1939 and 1940. ... view
Character:
Natsuyo
Original title: 蛇姫様
1940
When Sentarô’s father is killed by a drunken samurai, Sentarô avenges him. His deed puts him on the run and leaves his sister behind. While runnin ... view
Character:
Oshima
Character:
Oshiho
Original title: その前夜
1939
A forceful indictment of the devastating effects of war and nationalistic fanaticism on the average man, who, in the face of the absurdity of violence ... view
Character:
Osaki
Original title: 喧嘩鳶
1939
Kichigoro, a firefighter from the Maeda family of the Kaga Principality, rescues Oshimo, the younger sister of Jirokichi, a city firefighter from the ... view
Character:
Koina
Original title: 樋口一葉
1939
Japanese film based on the life of writer Ichiyo Higuchi (1872-1896). ... view
Character:
Ichiyo Higuchi
Original title: 鶴八鶴次郎
1938
Mr. Tsurujiro is a Japanese folk singer assisted by Ms. Tsuruhachi on the shamisen. The pair is popular, but he often nitpicks her music and so they s ... view
Character:
Tsuruhachi
Original title: 祇園の姉妹
1936
A geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto feels obliged to help her lover when he asks to stay with her after going bankrupt and leaving his wife. Howeve ... view
Character:
O-mocha
Original title: 浪華悲歌
1936
Ayako becomes the mistress of her boss in order to pay her father's debt and prevent him from going to prison for embezzlement. ... view
Character:
Ayako Murai
Original title: お嬢お吉
1935
Okichi, a woman trapped in a criminal scheme by two con men, finds her life of deception threatened when she unexpectedly falls in love with the son o ... view
Character:
Okichi
Original title: マリヤのお雪
1935
When a civil war threatens to break out, two geishas flee from their village with aristocrats. During the long journey, the socially inferior women pr ... view
Character:
Oyuki
Original title: お六櫛
1935
Once a wealthy local land owner, Toranosuke has long since fallen on hard times. Social ostracism befalls those who neglect communal duties and Torano ... view
Character:
Okinu
Original title: 折鶴お千
1935
In Tokyo, Osen is the servant girl of an unscrupulous antiques dealer, Kumazawa, who takes in the penniless Sokichi Hata. Kumazawa mistreats Sokichi a ... view
Character:
Osen
Original title: 風流活人剣
1934
This film tells the story of a ronin's search for his parents, but primarily is a group portrait of life in a Tokugawa-era tenement. Considered a lost ... view
Character:
Character:
Character:
Original title: 白夜の饗宴
1932
In old Edo, Kakunojo (Chiezo), a dandy about town, falls in love with Oichi (Isuzu Yamada), whose merchant family is much beyond Kakunojo's status. He ... view
Character:
Oichi
Original title: 国士無双
1932
In the midst of the depression, two ronin rack their brains to come up with a dishonest scheme. Taking a man from the countryside, they fashion him in ... view
Character:
Oyae
Original title: 仇討選手
1931
Lost film, directed by Tomu Uchida. This film is a very funny comedy that makes fun of the moral code of the samurai Bushido, which has become obsolet ... view
Character:
Original title: 殉教血史 日本二十六聖人
1931
Jesuit priests in Japan during the 17th century are persecuted by the shogunate to for trying to spread Christianity. ... view
Character:
Original title: 瞼の母
1931
His mother abandoned him as a child, so he had no choice but to live outside society. Even so, he grows up determined to reunite with her. Worried tha ... view
Character:
Otose
