Kinuyo Tanaka
Kinuyo Tanaka (田中 絹代 Tanaka Kinuyo, 29 November 1909 – 21 March 1977) was a Japanese actress and director.
Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. She became a leading actress at seventeen years old, appearing in Heinosuke Gosho's An Embarrassing Dream in 1927. She proceeded to take leading parts in, among others, Yasujirō Ozu's I Graduated, But... in 1929, Gosho's Aiyoku no ki in 1930, and in 1931, Japan's first talkie, The Neighbor's Wife and Mine, directed by Gosho.
She had a close working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi, having parts in 15 of his films, including leading roles in The Life of Oharu (1952), Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954). Their working relationship ended when Mizoguchi countered a recommendation from the Directors Guild of Japan for the Nikkatsu studio to hire her as a director. Despite this, the production of her second film as director went ahead, but Tanaka never forgave Mizoguchi, and the reasons for his behaviour are unclear. She also played Noboru Yasumoto's mother in Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (1965). For her portrayal in Kei Kumai's Sandakan N° 8 she won the Best Actress Award at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival in 1975. Her last screen appearance was in 1976 in Kei Kumai's Kita No Misaki.
Tanaka was the second Japanese woman who worked as a film director, after Sakane Tazuko (1904‐1975). Her first directing job was on the film Love Letter in 1953, and she made five further films in that role.
Acting
Movie
Ugetsu
as Miyagi
1953
Movie
Sansho the Bailiff
as Tamaki
1954
Movie
Red Beard
as Madame Yasumoto
1965
Movie
The Life of Oharu
as Oharu
1952
Movie
Equinox Flower
as Kiyoko Hirayama
1958
Movie
The Ballad of Narayama
as Orin
1958
Movie
Miss Oyu
as Oyû Kayukawa
1951
Movie
A Hen in the Wind
as Tokiko Amamiya
1948
Movie
The Woman in the Rumor
as Hatsuko Mabuchi
1954
Movie
The Munekata Sisters
as Setsuko Munekata
1950
Movie
Woman of Tokyo
as Harue
1933
Movie
Flowing
as Rika Yamanaka / Oharu
1956
Movie
Utamaro and His Five Women
as Okita
1946
Movie
Forever a Woman
as Neighbor's Wife
1955
Movie
Women of the Night
as Fusako Owada
1948
Movie
Love Letter
as Landlady
1953
Movie
Dragnet Girl
as Tokiko
1933
Movie
The Moon Has Risen
as Yoneya
1955
Movie
I Graduated, But...
as Machiko Nomoto
1929
Movie
Ornamental Hairpin
as Emi
1941
Movie
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
as Oshige
1932
Movie
Mother
as Masako Fukuhara
1952
Movie
Sandakan No. 8
as Old Osaki
1974
Movie
The Lady of Musashino
as Michiko Akiyama
1951
