Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

was one of Japan's greatest actors of the 20th century. Born in Ikuno, Japan, one of his earliest film roles was in Kenji Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy (1936). After Toshiro Mifune, Shimura was probably the next most closely associated actor with Akira Kurosawa. Shimura appeared in many of Kurosawa's films. His roles include Kambei, the lead samurai in Seven Samurai, the woodcutter in Rashomon, the mortally ill bureaucrat in Ikiru, the veteran detective in Stray Dog, and the doctor in Drunken Angel. In fact, Kurosawa's cinematic collaboration with Shimura, from 1943 to 1980, started earlier and lasted longer than his work (1948-65) with Mifune. Shimura appeared in the director's debut film, Sanshiro Sugata (1943), and the last film of Kurosawa's in which he acted was Kagemusha (1980), for which Kurosawa specifically wrote a part for Shimura. However, the scene was cut from the western release, and so many did not know that he had been part of the film. The release of the movie by The Criterion Collection restored Shimura's footage. Outside of his career working with Kurosawa, Shimura is probably best known for his roles in several Japanese monster movies, including the scientist Kyohei Yamane in the first two Godzilla films. Shimura died on February 11, 1982 from emphysema at the age of 76.