Last night I heard that Yoshiko Kuga had died at the age of 93. This came as a surprise because I honestly had no idea she was still alive. There is something really awful about having the first time you find out somebody had still been alive be when you hear of their death.
Yoshiko Kuga started acting in 1946 when she joined Toho at 15. Her filmography is remarkable for the number of critically acclaimed films she was in; there are a few more obscure things, of course, but she was regularly appearing in works from highly respected directors like Keisuke Kinoshita and Yasujirō Ozu. Many of her films can be found either in the Criterion Collection or on the Criterion Channel. (I'm going to recommend Thus Another Day which is quite short if you want something to put on but don't have a lot of free time.) I have not explored her filmography extensively, but it's interesting to me how varied her characters are. She did not end up shoehorned into housewife roles, and was often playing characters going through a lot of personal turmoil (but, yes, some housewives too). She has a lot of screen presence in everything I've seen her in and she's very striking.
She met Akihiko Hirata on the set of Story of Osaka Castle; they married in 1961. They were married until his death in 1984 and were widely known for being an extremely close and affectionate couple.
This story comes from an ancient BBS: Kuga had a role in a television series called Tokyo Combat that ran from 1968-69, and Hirata at one point had a single-episode guest appearance as well. There was a story arc about a kidnapping in which Hirata was considered for the role of the kidnapper, but apparently Kuga declined this and said "With [him] as the other person, I can't make a face of fear. I can't help but smile."
I review Good Morning on my main blog here.
No comments:
Post a Comment