Shintaro Katsu
| Shintaro Katsu | |
|---|---|
The Badger Palace: Happy New Year (初春狸御殿 Hatsu Haru, Tanuki-goten, 1959)
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| Born |
Toshio Okumura 29 November 1931 Fukagawa, Tokyo, Japan |
| Died | 21 June 1997 (aged 65) Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan |
| Occupation | Actor, singer, producer, writer and director |
| Years active | 1954–97 |
| Spouse(s) | Tamao Nakamura |
Shintaro Katsu (Japanese: 勝 新太郎 Hepburn: Katsu Shintarō?, 29 November 1931 – 21 June 1997) was a Japanese actor, singer, producer, and director.
Born Toshio Okumura (奥村 利夫 Okumura Toshio) on 29 November 1931. He was the son of kabuki performer Katsutoji Kineya (Kineya Katsutōji) who was renowned for his nagauta and shamisen skills, and younger brother of actor Tomisaburo Wakayama (Wakayama Tomisaburō).
Shintaro Katsu began his career in entertainment as a shamisen player. He switched to acting because he noticed it was better paid. In the 1960s he starred simultaneously in three long-running series of films, the Akumyo series, the Hoodlum Soldier series, and the Zatoichi series.
He played the role of blind masseur Zatoichi in a series of films in 25 movies between 1962 and 1973, starred and directed a 26th in 1989 and played the role in four seasons of a spin-off television series.
After the closing of Daiei Studios, Katsu formed the company Katsu Productions.
Katsu had a troubled personal life. A heavy drinker, Katsu had several skirmishes with the law regarding drug use as well, including marijuana, opium and cocaine with arrests in 1978, 1990 and 1992.
He had also developed a reputation as a troublemaker on set. When director Akira Kurosawa cast him for the lead role in Kagemusha (1980), Katsu left before the first day of shooting was over. Though accounts differ as to the incident, the most consistent one details Katsu's clash with Kurosawa regarding bringing his own film crew to the set (to film Kurosawa in action for later exhibition to his own acting students). Kurosawa is reputed to have taken great offense at this, resulting in Katsu's termination (he was replaced by Tatsuya Nakadai). In her recent book, Waiting on the Weather, about her experiences with director Kurosawa, script supervisor Teruyo Nogami chalks the differences between Katsu and Kurosawa up to a personality clash that had unfortunate artistic results.
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