Denjirō Ōkōchi
| Denjirō Ōkōchi | |
|---|---|
Denjirō Ōkōchi
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| Native name | 大河内 傳次郎 |
| Born |
February 5, 1898 Buzen, Fukuoka |
| Died | July 18, 1962 (aged 64) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Other names | Masuo Ōbe |
| Occupation | Film actor |
| Years active | 1925 – 1961 |
Denjirō Ōkōchi (大河内 傳次郎 Ōkōchi Denjirō?, 5 February 1898 – 18 July 1962) was a Japanese film actor most famous for starring roles in jidaigeki directed by leading Japanese filmmakers.
Born in 1898, his real name was Masuo Ōbe.
Ōkōchi entered Shinkokugeki (Eng: New National Theatre), traiining under Shōjirō Sawada (aka Sawasho). Sawada founded this new school of popular theatre in 1917 which had strong cultural impact by the early 1920s. Shinkokugeki was known for jidaigeki the period drama genre, particularly for its realistic sword fights (tate) or swordplay (kengeki).
With this background, Ōkōchi entered the Nikkatsu studio in 1925 and soon came to fame in chanbara (sword-fighting) Samurai films – a subgenre of jidaigeki emphasizing tate – playing characters such as Chūji Kunisada and Sazen Tange.
At his peak, he was one of the top jidaigeki stars alongside Tsumasaburō Bandō and Chiezō Kataoka. During World War II, he also appeared in a number of war films.
He was directed by such masters as Akira Kurosawa, Daisuke Itō, Sadao Yamanaka, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Hiroshi Inagaki and Masahiro Makino.
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