
Isuzu Yamada
Born February 5, 1917 · Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Isuzu Yamada (山田 五十鈴, Yamada Isuzu, 5 February 1917 – 9 July 2012) was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades. Yamada was born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada, the daughter of Kusudu Yamada, a shinpa actor specialising in onnagata roles, and Ritsu, a geisha. Yamada debuted as a film actress in 1930 at age twelve, appearing in the Nikkatsu film Tsurugi wo koete. She soon became one of Nikkatsu's top actresses, but it was her portrayals of strong-willed modern girls in Kenji Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion in 1936 at the new Daiichi Eiga studio that earned her popularity and critical acclaim. Moving to Shinkō Kinema and then to Toho, she became a star with Mikio Naruse's Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro (1938). During the second half of the 1950s, Yamada's main attention shifted towards the stage, but she still appeared in a number of distinguished films like Naruse's Flowing (1956), Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Twilight (1957) and Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths (1957) and Throne of Blood (1957). Other directors she worked with during this decade include Keisuke Kinoshita, Kaneto Shindō and Shirō Toyoda. In addition to her theatre engagements, she appeared on television, including the long-running Hissatsu series. Her last TV appearance was in 2002. Yamada died from multiple organ failure in Tokyo on 9 July 2012 at the age of 95. She was married four times, to actor Ichirō Tsukita, to producer Kazuo Takimura, to actor Yoshi Katō, and to actor Tsutomu Shimomoto. Her daughter with Tsukita, Michiko, became known as the actress Michiko Saga (1935–1992). Description above from the Wikipedia article Isuzu Yamada, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Notable Appearances
More Movies

Kurosawa

Shogun's Samurai: The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy

Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director

Orizuru kasa

Daredevil in the Castle

If Indeed One Loves

Shozo, a Cat and Two Women

A Man from Akagi

The Orphan Brother

Buddha

Sisters of the Gion

Osaka Elegy

The Motherland Far Far Away

Flowing

Zoku hebi hime dōchū

Sure Death

Hiroshima

Bonchi

Suspicion

Black River

The Great Wall

Oyuki the Virgin

Ameyuki-san

Home Sweet Home

A Lonely Woman in a Lonely Land

Burden of Love

Miniature

Lord for a Night

The Way of Drama

Hanjiro of Kusama: Bird of Passage

Four Sisters

Fireworks Over the Sea

The Days of Evil Women

The Shrikes

Downtown

Hebi hime dōchū

Four Marriages

Actress

Woman Boss

The Mandarin Room

Five Men of Edo

A Billionaire

The Shadow Daughter

Modern People

The Undefeated Woman

The Shop Curtain

Kagebōshi

Fencing Master

Case of a Young Lord 9: Black Camellia

Princess Sen in Edo

At the End of the Clouds

The Siege of Osaka

The Horse Boy

荒木又右衛門

Schoolgirl Records

Sure Death! Brown, You Bounder!

Kurama Tengu: Acrobat in a lion mask

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Throne of Blood'

Hinoki Butai

風来物語 あばれ飛車

A Boy and Three Mothers

假名手本忠臣蔵

Christ in Bronze

Tange Sazen - Dai-ippen

Deep River Melody

Bangaku no issho

Koi rōka

The Inner Palace Conspiracy

Hear My Mother's Cry

Goodbye to Glory

The Body

Farewell to Dream

振袖釼法

Kantaro of Ina

江戸いろは祭

Musashibo Benkei

The Lovelorn Geisha

Glory on the Summit

Man of Edo

Ishigassen

The Sculpture of Master Choji

Chutaro of Banba

Five Patriots of Kyoto

Zoku kagebōshi ryūkoaiutsutsu

Miss Hanaogi and Santa

大当り男一代

Disappearance in the Night

The Revenge Champion

The Battle of Kawanakajima

Mother and Child

The Man Who Waited

音楽大進軍

Japanese Ghost Story Masterpiece Theater: The Ghost of Yotsuya

The Stand in Hakone

The Man Who Disappeared Yesterday

Minamoto Yoshitsune

Devil’s Statue

Tsukigata Hanpeita

Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro

Pineapple Butai

The Famous Sword Bijomaru

Become a Mother, Become a Woman

The Big Ambition

The Song Lantern

Samurai Nippon

In Search of Mother

Namida no hanamichi

The Canary Cage, Spellbound Love

Until Victory Day

Love in the Mountains

The 26 Martyrs of Japan

Arashi Tatsunari

Suronin Chuya

Hirate Miki the Swordman

The Killing of Otsuya

Koga Manshion

Sakiko-san chotto

Secret

Castle of Revenge

Satsuma-bikyaku

Onatsu Detective Case: Mad Slasher

A Matter of Valour

Mission Accomplished

Growing Up

Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki

The Hidden Treasure

365 Nights

Karatachi no hana

Keshô yuki

Taikoki - The Saga of Hideyoshi

The Downfall of Osen

Three Loves

The Seasons of Love

Wild Lion

Chushingura

The Greatest Man in the World

The Day Before

Miss Okichi

Shanghai Moon

The Fighting Firemen

風雲金毘羅山








