Kumeko Urabe
Kumeko Urabe (Japanese: 浦辺粂子), born Kimura Kume ((木村 くめ)), (October 5, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was a Japanese movie actress, one of the first in the country. She worked on stage and in film and television. Urabe was born in a rural part of the Shizuoka Prefecture. She lived in several homes while growing up, as she relocated with her father, a Buddhist priest, among the temples to which he was assigned. Urabe completed her education in Numazu, and left school in 1919 to join a theatre company, touring under various stage names as an actor and dancer.
In 1923, Urabe auditioned at the film studio Nikkatsu, and adopted the name Kumeko Urabe, by which she was known for the rest of her life. She appeared in her first film the following year, and continued to act until 1987. She worked with such directors as Kenji Mizoguchi and Mikio Naruse, and performed in over 320 films, including Ikiru, Older Brother, Younger Sister, Portrait of Madame Yuki, She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum, and Street of Shame. She also starred in television dramas, including thirteen episodes of Toshiba Sunday Theatre between 1958 and 1980. In the following decade, she carved a niche as a Grandma idol, until her death in 1989.
Known for
Color
Nocturnal Lights
Dupe
Destroyer Yukikaze
Nippon no obaachan
Waka
An Innocent Witch
Night Scandal
Shino
Ikiru
Tatsu Watanabe
母山彦
母子鶴
Onao
The Rainbow Man
Kane Nonomura
Scarred Yosaburo
Ah, My Hometown
Yurakucho 0 Street
Mother of A 16号
The Song of the Cart
Hachiko
Tabacco Shop Owner
Typhoon Over Nagasaki
Shi no machi wo nogarete
Floating Weeds
Shige
Tokyo Twilight
Komatsu's Mistress
Early Spring
Shige Kitagawa
Seisaku no tsuma
Street of Shame
Otane
Stakeout
Proprietress of the Hotel Hizen-ya
Miss Lonely
Fuki Inoue
White Runway
Kininaru Yomesan
Two in the Shadow
Repast
Taniguchi Shige
Twenty-Four Eyes
Otoko Sensei no Tsuma
Mother
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Self
Portrait of Madame Yuki
San
Yearning
Bar Madam
Snow Country
Tokyo Omnibus
Women of the Night
Brothel Keeper
Stray Dog
Where Chimneys Are Seen
Kayo Nojima
Game of Chance
Sugi
Lightning
Osei
Moment of Terror
Hisako Kanematsu
A Woman's Testament
A Ripple in a Morning
The Precipice
Chained Bitch
Gateway to Glory
Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree
Tomi
Bridge of Japan
The Body
Brother and Sister
Riki - the Mother
I Sell My Husband
Snow-Flake
The Life of a Horse Trader
Onobu
The Broken Commandment
Owner of the hotel
The Song Lantern
A Grain of Wheat
Being Two Isn't Easy
Ino
Victory and Defeat
Sato
Storm on the Silvery Peaks
Old woman
Duel in the Sun
Boarding house landlady
A Woman's Life
Nobuko's mother
Passion to Soar
Inazuma Kaidō
Fighting Letter for 29 People
The Makioka Sisters
Irresponsible Rascal of Japan
Onna Ikitemasu: Sakariba Wataridori
Tsue
Fantasy of Youth
White Cliffs
Goodbye, Hello
Restaurant owner
Moken no himitsu
New Snow
The Cold-Hearted Sea
18 Roughs
Gin Ishii
The Final Gamble
Tora-san's Pure Love
She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
Grandmother
Night Mist Makes Women Cry
Yoshi Namikawa
Sound in the Mist
Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky
Shige, Ryoichi's stepmother
Women Doing Time
The Refugee
A Man Among Men
Okimi
A Certain Woman
Tome
Before Spring
Toyo
Osumi and Her Mother
Kono ni uruwashi
The Bad Guy Blues
Yanagase Blues
Kane Sasagawa
Koina no Ginpei
Uogashi no senpū musume
Irohanihoheto
Gakusei geisha koi to kenka
Refresher Course for Wives
Submarine Ro Hasn't Surfaced
Teppo Yasu no Shogai
Kyū-chan ondo
Itohan Monogatari
Okô
Haru no sanmyaku
Four and A Half Mats
Riku
Wedding March
Auntie
The Story of Shunkin
A Mother's Love
The Woman Who Touched Legs
Parakin to Kyū-chan mōshiwakenai yarō-tachi
Oogonju
Connie Sonobe's mother
Saigo no kikyō
The Tiger of Malaya
Tomi
Elegy of the North
Grandma
Akireta musumetachi
湖愁
Training Ship of Yearning
The Passionate Spinster
Tokiko Tsurukawa
The Wild Geese
Otsune
Tokyo Eyes
続二等兵物語 決戦体制の巻
刑事部屋
Eyes, the Sea and a Ball
Flower Cards Chivalry
Teinen Taishoku
The Pretty Jade
And Yet They Go On
喜劇 右向けェ左！
Diary of a Substitute Doctor
The Water Magician
Ogin
Flower's Yearning
Muraki Sawa
Tsukinode no ketto
Otani
A Bridge for Two Alone
Jakoman and Tetsu
Taka
The Magistrate
Bot-chan
Kiyo
Twice on a Certain Night
Aru yo no seppun
Takako
The 26 Martyrs of Japan
Ohisa, Mother of Antonio
Hibari no komoriuta
Mistress of a Foreigner
Omatsu
The Secret Ceremony
Koi no otome kawa
Adults Games
Confronting Fear
Who Is the Criminal?
Ginza Cancan Girls
The Feast of Gion
A Face Glowing at Night
(Street of Wandering Pigeons) When Will the Birds Come Home
Masa
Hibi no haishin
The Man From Chungking
妻とよ
Love and the Shop Curtain
東京シンデレラ娘
俺は死なない
The Salaryman's Carefree Life: What a Relaxed Job This Is!
Yaneura no Onna-tachi
Victory or Defeat
When a Woman Loves
Otome
We Are Salarymen
Shizuko Komuro (Eiichiro’s Mother)
Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
The Straits of Love and Hate
Ume
Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp
Girl in College
Children Seeking a Mother
Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue
Otoku
The Golden Demon
Tose
An Heir's Place
Eriko
Oshima