Kunie Tanaka
Biography
Kunie Tanaka (田中 邦衛 Tanaka Kunie, November 23, 1932 - March 24, 2021) was a Japanese actor. He had his first notable role in 1960 as a thug in Akira Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well, and worked with the director again on Sanjuro. Tanaka is well known for his roles in Kinji Fukasaku's yakuza films, namely the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series. He also appeared in Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan. He has been nominated for five Japanese Academy Awards, winning the Best Supporting Actor statuette for Gakko in 1993. He appeared as the lecherous Shinjiro Ishiyama, nicknamed Aodaishō, the antagonist of the hero, played by Yūzō Kayama, in all of the Wakadaishō series of films. The character Kizaru, from Eiichiro Oda's manga series One Piece, is modeled after Tanaka.
Also Known As
Movie Appearances
Hymn to a Tired Man
as Hisataro Ohno
1968
Kwaidan
as Yasaku (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
1965
Sanjuro
as Samurai
1962
Tora-san to the Rescue
as Ship Captain
1995
Lone Wolf and Cub: The Final Conflict
as Buddhist Priest
1993
Dodes'ka-den
as Hatsutaro Kawaguchi
1970
The Hidden Blade
as Kanbê Katagiri
2004
Deadly Swords in Search of Hidden Gold
1983
Battles Without Honor and Humanity
as Masakichi Makihara
1973
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
as Obara Nitôhei
1959
Yomigaeri
as Dr. Saito
2003
Vermillion Sword: Scabbard Code Sword Amidst the Swirling Cherry Blossoms
as Seiji Matsumiya
1969
A Fishmonger's Tour
1963
Shy Security
1991
The Wolves
as Matsuzo Tsumura
1971
Zorome no San Kyoudai
1972
In Broad Daylight
as March
1968
Fukumimi
2003
The Face of Another
as Mentally Ill Man #1
1966
Kita no kuni kara '92 Sudachi Part 1
1992
TV Appearances
The Password is Courage
2000
Rice Curry
1986
Older brother
as Kintaro
1977
Private Detective Dobu
1991
Kita no kuni kara
as Goru Kuroita (黑板五郎)
1981
Submersion of Japan
as Tatsuno
1974
Hacchōbori Torimono Banashi
1993
Baian the Assassin
as Han-Emon of Otowa
1991
The Nagasaki Crime Chronicles
as Yoshitoshi Kogure
1975
The Shin Hasegawa Series
as 蛙ヶ池の仙太
1972
世界で一番熱い夏
2001
The Sun in Kurobe
as Genkichi
2009