Yorozuya Kinnosuke
Japanese actor
Died when: 64 years 110 days (771 months)Star Sign: Scorpio
Yorozuya Kinnosuke (?????) (November 20, 1932 – March 10, 1997) was a Japanese kabuki actor.Born Kin'ichi Ogawa (?? ??, Ogawa Kin'ichi), son of kabuki actor Nakamura Tokizo III, he entered kabuki and became the first in the kabuki tradition to take the name Nakamura Kinnosuke.
He took on his guild name (yago) Yorozuya as his surname in 1971.In addition to his kabuki activity, Kinnosuke had an extensive film career.
A specialist in jidaigeki, Kinnosuke appeared in more than 140 films.These include a 1957 Mito Komon and a 1961 appearance as the title character in the Toei Company's Miyamoto Musashi series (a role he reprised in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965, and again in 1971).
A versatile actor, he has played as many as seven characters in a single film.In various productions of Chushingura, he also portrayed Oyamada Shozaemon (1956), Asano Naganori (1959), Wakisaka Awaji no Kami (1961), and Oishi Yoshio (1978).
Other appearances include Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1957, 1958, 1962), Tokugawa Iemitsu (1958), Oda Nobunaga (1965), Takeda Shingen (1969), Sakamoto Ryoma (1970), Matsudaira Katamori (1980), and Oda Yurakusai (1989).Kinnosuke portrayed Yagyu Munenori multiple times, first on television as the star of the year-long 1971 NHK Taiga drama Haru no Sakamichi, then on the Big Screen in the 1978 film Shogun's Samurai.
His next appearance as Munenori was in a 13 episode TV production entitled Yagyu Shinkage-ryu which aired in 1982.His final appearance as Munenori was in 4 of 5 Yagyu Bugeicho TV movies that aired between 1990 and 1992.
From 1973 to 1976, he played Ogami Itto, the Lone Wolf in the NTV series Kozure Okami based on the manga Lone Wolf and Cub.
A late-career role was Yamana Sozen in the Taiga drama Hana no Ran.Kinnosuke's younger brother Nakamura Katsuo and nephew Nakamura Shido II are currently active in kabuki, television, and film.
