Tetsurō Tamba

Tetsurō Tamba
Native name	丹波 哲郎
Born	July 17, 1922 Tokyo, Japan
Died	September 24, 2006 (aged 84) Tokyo, Japan
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1952–2006
Known for	You Only Live Twice as Tiger Tanaka

Tetsurō Tamba (丹波 哲郎 Tanba Tetsurō, July 17, 1922 – September 24, 2006) was a Japanese actor.

Biography

Tamba is perhaps best known by Western audiences for his role as Tiger Tanaka in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice (he was dubbed by Robert Rietti). By then, he had among other roles appeared in two films by director Masaki Kobayashi: Harakiri and Kwaidan. He also portrayed the lead character in the police dramas Key Hunter and G-Men '75, the latter of which remains his best-known role in Japan.^[1]

He also portrayed the voice of the "Cat King" in the original Japanese version of the Studio Ghibli anime film The Cat Returns. More recently, he had parts in Twilight Samurai and two Takashi Miike films, The Happiness of the Katakuris and Gozu, as well as acting as a spokesperson for the Dai Rei Kai spiritual movement.

Tamba's son, Yoshitaka Tamba, is also an actor.

In February 2005, Tamba was hospitalized for influenza and appendicitis. He lost weight drastically and his health degenerated. On September 24, 2006, he died in Tokyo at the age of 84 of pneumonia.

Filmography

Films

• Senun Ajia no joo (1957)
• Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi (The Ghost of Kasane) (1957)
• Meijitennou to nichi ro dai sensou (1957)
• Hitogui Ama (1958)
• The Story of Osaka Castle (1961) as Sadamasa Ishikawa^[2]
• Harakiri (1962)
• Tange hidari zen (1963)
• Juu san nin no shikaku (1963)
• The 7th Dawn (1964)
• Ansatsu (1964)
• Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)
• Samurai Spy (1965)
• Abashiri Prison (1965)
• You Only Live Twice (1967) - Tiger Tanaka
• Blackmail Is My Life (1968)
• The Five Man Army (1969)
• Goyokin (1969)
• Yakuza Deka (1970)
• Battle of Okinawa (Gekidō no Shōwashi: Okinawa Kessen) (1971)
• Silence (1971)
• Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)
• Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War (1973)
• The Human Revolution (1973)
• Tidal Wave (1973)
• Castle of Sand (1974)
• Karafuto 1945 Summer Hyosetsu no mon (1974)
• Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974)
• Water Margin (1975)
• Shinkansen dai bakuha (1975)
• Zoku ningen kakumei (1976)
• Ozora no samurai (1976)
• Hakkoudasan (1977)
• Shogun's Samurai: The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy (1978)
• Koutei no inai hachigatsu (1978)
• Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron (1978)
• Message from Space (1978)
• Akou jou danzetsu (1978)
• The Battle of Port Arthur (1980, as General Kodama Gentarō, the film is also known as 203 kochi^[3])
• Rengou kantai (1981)
• Makai Tensho: Samurai Reincarnation (1981)
• Bushido Blade (1981)
• Dai nippon teikoku (1982)
• Giwaku (1982)
• Nihonkai taikai sen umi yuka ba (1983)
• Shura no mure (1984)
• Kukai (1984)
• Rei sen yu (1984)
• Shinran: Path to Purity (1987)
• Shuto Shoushitsu (1987)
• Hai kara-san ga tooru (1987)
• Shogun's Shadow (1989)
• 226 (1989)
• Teito Taisen (1989)
• Edojou Tairan (1991)
• Riki-Oh (1991)
• Peking Genjin: Who Are You? (1997)
• Neji Shiki (1998)
• Inou Chuukei ~Shigosen no Yume~ (2001)
• The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
• Duri baka nisshi 13 hama chan kikiippatsu! (2002)
• The Twilight Samurai (2002)
• Japan Sinks (2006)

TV dramas

• Tange hidari zen
• Spy Catcher J3 (1965)
• Key Hunter (1968 TBS)
• Jikiru to hai do (1973)
• Eyeful Dai Sakusen (1973 TBS)
• Birdie Dai Sakusen (1974 TBS)
• G-Men '75 (1975 TBS)
• Sekigahara (1981 TBS) - Fukushima Masanori
• G-Men '82 (1982 TBS)
• Marco Polo (1982 NBC)
• Aoi Hitomi no Sei Life (1984 Fuji)
• Super Police (1985 TBS)
• HOTEL (TBS)
• Chōshichirō Edo Nikki (1983 NTV)
• Ōgon no Hibi (1978 NHK)
• Shishi no Jidai (1980 NHK)
• Tōge no Gunzō (1982 NHK)
• Miyamoto Musashi (1984-85 NHK) - Shinmen Munisai
• Sanada Taiheiki (1985-86 NHK) - Sanada Masayuki
• Chūshingura (1985)
• Kayō Suspense Gekijō Bengoshi Takabayashi Ayuko series (1986-2005 NTV)
• Mito Kōmon (1986 TBS)
• Byakkotai (1986)
• Inochi (1986 NHK)
• Tabaruzaka (1987)
• Shunjitsu kyoku (1989 NHK)
• Juu san nin no shikaku (1990)
• Minamotonoyoshitsune (1991)
• Tairanokiyomori (1992 TBS)
• Hashi ran ka! (1995 NHK)
• Jikuu keisatsu sousa ichi ka (2001)
• Toshiie to Matsu (2002 NHK)
• Yoshitsune (2005 NHK)

Animation

• Crayon Shin-chan: Explosion! The Hot Spring's Feel Good Final Battle (1999)
• The Cat Returns (2002)

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 2000: Nikkan Sports Film Award: Best Supporting Actor for 15-Sai: Gakko IV
• 1981: Japan Academy Prize: Best Supporting Actor for 203 kochi^[4]
• 1981: Blue Ribbon Awards: Best Supporting Actor for 203 kochi
• 1974: Mainichi Film Award: Best Actor for Ningen kakumei

Awards nominated

• 2001: Japan Academy Prize: Best Supporting Actor for 15-Sai: Gakko IV

References

1. Japan Hero
2. Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
3. The Battle of Port Arthur (203 Koshi) in the Internet Movie Database
4. 第 4 回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品 (in Japanese). Japan Academy Prize. Retrieved 2010-12-16.

External links

• Tetsuro Tamba at the Internet Movie Database
• Japanese Wikipedia page (also source)
• BBC article, retrieved December 10, 2006.
• "地獄: キャスト (Hell: Cast-- < Asu Shino > Tetsuro Tamba)" (in Japanese and English). Jigoku Homepage. 1999. Archived from the original on 2000-08-19. Retrieved 2008-02-07.