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
White Runway
Ikiru
Tatsu Watanabe
Street of Shame
Otane
Tokyo Twilight
Komatsu's Mistress
Women of the Night
Brothel Keeper
Women of the Night
Brothel-keeper
Hachiko
Tabacco Shop Owner
Early Spring
Shige Kitagawa
Floating Weeds
Shige
Brother and Sister
Riki - the Mother
Repast
Taniguchi Shige
Stakeout
Proprietress of the Hotel Hizen-ya
Portrait of Madame Yuki
San
Yearning
Bar Madam
Twenty-Four Eyes
Otoko Sensei no Tsuma
Miss Lonely
Fuki Inoue
Two in the Shadow
Snow Country
Kininaru Yomesan
Bridge of Japan
She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
Grandmother
Tokyo Omnibus
The Straits of Love and Hate
Ume
Jakoman and Tetsu
Taka
Being Two Isn't Easy
Ino
(Street of Wandering Pigeons) When Will the Birds Come Home
Masa
The Bad Guy Blues
The Broken Commandment
Owner of the hotel
Gateway to Glory
Lightning
Osei
Tora-san's Pure Love
Goodbye, Hello
Victory and Defeat
Sato
The Rainbow Man
Kane Nonomura
Bot-chan
Kiyo
Mistress of a Foreigner
Omatsu
The Life of a Horse Trader
Onobu
Where Chimneys Are Seen
Kayo Nojima
Sound in the Mist
Confronting Fear
Night Mist Makes Women Cry
Yoshi Namikawa
Stray Dog
The Water Magician
Ogin
Typhoon Over Nagasaki
Ginza Cancan Girls
Elegy of the North
Grandma
New Snow
Moment of Terror
Hisako Kanematsu
Before Spring
Toyo
A Ripple in a Morning
Adults Games
Snow-Flake
The 26 Martyrs of Japan
Ohisa, Mother of Antonio
Itohan Monogatari
Okô
A Man Among Men
Okimi
Chained Bitch
Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp
Irohanihoheto
Mother
Refresher Course for Wives
The Body
Oogonju
Connie Sonobe's mother
Hibari no komoriuta
The Woman Who Touched Legs
A Woman's Testament
Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
The Story of Shunkin
母山彦
Game of Chance
Sugi
White Cliffs
A Bridge for Two Alone
18 Roughs
Gin Ishii
The Wild Geese
Otsune
The Passionate Spinster
Tokiko Tsurukawa
The Precipice
Children Seeking a Mother
Training Ship of Yearning
Eriko
Oshima
I Sell My Husband
Akireta musumetachi
Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky
Shige, Ryoichi's stepmother
The Golden Demon
Tose
Love and the Shop Curtain
Four and A Half Mats
Riku
Passion to Soar
Nocturnal Lights
Duel in the Sun
Boarding house landlady
Girl in College
An Innocent Witch
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Tokyo Eyes
Onna Ikitemasu: Sakariba Wataridori
Tsue
刑事部屋
Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree
Tomi
続二等兵物語 決戦体制の巻
The Man From Chungking
妻とよ
The Pretty Jade
The Makioka Sisters
喜劇 右向けェ左！
Gakusei geisha koi to kenka
The Magistrate
The Secret Ceremony
Storm on the Silvery Peaks
Old woman
Koi no otome kawa
Submarine Ro Hasn't Surfaced
The Feast of Gion
Sarari man donto bushi - Kiraku na kagyô to kita monda
Teppo Yasu no Shogai
The Refugee
A Grain of Wheat
Fighting Letter for 29 People
Yaneura no Onna-tachi
The Final Gamble
Nippon no obaachan
Waka
Saigo no kikyō
Wedding March
Auntie
Tsukinode no ketto
Otani
The Tiger of Malaya
Tomi
The Cold-Hearted Sea
Yanagase Blues
Kane Sasagawa
A Woman's Life
Nobuko's mother
Destroyer Yukikaze
Parakin to Kyū-chan mōshiwakenai yarō-tachi
Fantasy of Youth
A Certain Woman
Tome
Secret Club 000
湖愁
Eyes, the Sea and a Ball
The Song Lantern
Women Doing Time
Uogashi no senpū musume
The Song of the Cart
Kono ni uruwashi
母子鶴
Onao
日輪 前篇
Victory or Defeat
Shi no machi wo nogarete
Inazuma Kaidō
A Mother's Love
Love's Family Tree
Aru yo no seppun
Takako
Kanpai! Tokyo Musume
Haru no sanmyaku
Teinen Taishoku
Kyū-chan ondo
Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue
Otoku
Ie naki musume
俺は死なない
Night Scandal
Shino
Young Lovers
Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen
Twice on a Certain Night
And Yet They Go On
When a Woman Loves
Otome