Kōji Tsuruta
| Kōji Tsuruta | |
|---|---|
Kōji Tsuruta in 1950.
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| Born |
Eiichi Ono December 6, 1924 Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan |
| Died | June 16, 1987 (aged 62) |
| Occupation | Actor, singer |
| Years active | 1948–1987 |
Eiichi Ono (小野 榮一 Ono Eiichi?, December 6, 1924 – June 16, 1987), better known by his stage name Kōji Tsuruta (鶴田 浩二 Tsuruta Kōji?), was a Japanese actor and singer. He appeared in almost 260 feature films and had a unique style of singing. His daughter, Sayaka Tsuruta, is an actress.
Born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Tsuruta was raised in Osaka by his grandmother, following his parents' divorce. A delinquent in high school, he finished second from the bottom of his class.
Tsuruta was studying at Kansai University when he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in 1944. After the war he joined Hirokichi Takada's theater troupe and made his film debut at Shochiku in 1948 with Yūkyō no mure, gaining a female following for playing handsome leads. He left Shochiku in 1952 to start his own production company. Prior, a romance with actress Keiko Kishi made headlines and Shochiku forced the two to end the relationship. He notably played Sasaki Kojirō in Toho's Samurai Trilogy (1954–1956), opposite Toshirō Mifune.
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