Ken Ogata
Ken Ogata (緒形 拳 Ogata Ken, 20 July 1937-5 October 2008) was a Japanese actor.
Ogata was born in Tokyo, Japan. Ogata is well known for his roles in Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and Shohei Imamura's The Ballad of Narayama. He won the award for best actor at the 26th Blue Ribbon Awards for Okinawan Boys.
In television, his starring role as Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1965 NHK Taiga drama Taikōki catapulted him to fame. Ken went on to many prominent roles in subsequent programs. The following year, he portrayed Benkei in Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The network tapped him again for the role of Fujiwara no Sumitomo in the 1976 Kaze to Kumo to Niji to. He returned to playing Hideyoshi in the 1978 Ōgon no Hibi, and returned to the lead as Ōishi Kuranosuke in Tōge no Gunzō, the 1982 Chūshingura. Another featured appearance in a Taiga drama was in Taiheiki (1991, as Ashikaga Sadauji, father of Takauji).
Mr. Ogata died on October 5, 2008, just days after finishing his role in the production of the Fuji TV drama "Kaze no Garden" (Garden of the Winds), filmed in the rural Furano area of northern Japan. In his final role, Ogata, himself 71 years of age, played a doctor involved in the end-of-life care of elderly patients.
His sons Kanta and Naoto Ogata are actors. NHK selected Naoto for the starring role of Oda Nobunaga in the 1992 Taiga drama Nobunaga King of Zipangu; Kanta played Inaba Masakatsu in Aoi Tokugawa Sandai (2000).
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Acting
Movie
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
as Yukio Mishima
1985
Movie
The Ballad of Narayama
as Tatsuhei
1983
Movie
The Pillow Book
as The Father
1995
Movie
Vengeance Is Mine
as Iwao Enokizu
1979
Movie
The Hidden Blade
as Chief Retainer Hori
2004
Movie
September 11
as Villager (segment "Japan")
2002
Movie
Izo
as Swordsman
2004
Movie
Love and Honor
as Magohachiro Kibe
2006
Movie
Virus
as Prof. Tsuchiya
1980
Movie
The Castle of Sand
as Kenichi Miki
1974
Movie
Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally
as Ronin
1989
Movie
Samurai Reincarnation
as Musashi Miyamoto
1981
Movie
Edo Porn
as Hokusai
1981
Movie
The Demon
as Sokichi Takeshita
1978
Movie
Samurai Banners
as Hatanaka Buhei
1969
TV
Furuhata Ninzaburo
1994
Movie
Shogun's Shadow
as Igo Gyobu
1989
Movie
The Last Samurai
as Nakamura Hanjiro
1974
Movie
Eijanaika
as Furukawa
1981
Movie
Gonin 2
as Toyama Masamichi
1996
Movie
The Samurai I Loved
as Maki Sukezaemon
2005
Movie
Mount Hakkoda
as Corporal Murayama
1977
Movie
The Peacock King
as Jiku Ajari
1988
Movie
Zegen
as Iheiji Muraoka
1987