Takako Irie
Takako Irie (入江 たか子 Irie Takako, 7 February 1911 – 12 January 1995) was a Japanese film actress. Born in Tokyo into the aristocratic Higashibōjō family (her birth name was Hideko Higashibōjō (東坊城 英子 Higashibōjō Hideko)), she graduated from Bunka Gakuin before debuting as an actress at Nikkatsu in 1927. She became a major star, even starting her own production company, Irie Productions, in 1932. One of Kenji Mizoguchi's silent film masterpieces, The Water Magician, was produced at that company with Irie starring. She appeared in many advertisements, as well as on fans and other commercial goods. Irie was also the subject of a folding screen painting by Nihonga artist Nakamura Daizaburō, which appeared in the 1930 Teiten (Imperial Exhibition), and which is today in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art; toy dolls were also produced based on this image.
In the postwar period, Irie became known as a "ghost cat actress" (bakeneko joyū) for appearing in a series of kaidan (ghost story) movies. One of her late memorable roles was in Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro, where she plays Mutsuta's wife, the lady who warns Sanjuro (Toshirō Mifune) that "the best sword stays in its scabbard".
Known for
Ghost-Cat of Arima Palace
Matenro sôtohen
Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen
A Living Puppet
Hiroko Kumikawa
The Morning Sun Shines
girl in the elevator
Terrible Ghost Cat of Okazaki
Behold This Mother
Omokage no machi
Karayuki-san
Metropolitan Symphony
Reiko Yamada
Yoshie Fujiwara's Hometown
Workwoman
White Heron
The Ghost Cat of Ouma Crossing
Sincerity
Tobiko Haseyama
Tokyo March
早百合
The Snake Princess
The Dawn of Manchuria and Mongolia
Shiho Hime
Yukiko and Natsuyo
Yukiko
Learn from Experience, Part One
Toyomi
Matashirō Fighting Journey
Tsuki yori no shisha
Michiko Nonoguchi, nurse
Great Bodhisattva Pass
The Deserted City
Shino
Jean Valjean: Part One
Fighting Letter for 29 People
Life Is like a Somersault
A Woman's Sorrows
Judge of the Ashuras
Tales of a Drifter
Sanjuro
Mutsuta's wife
Nage Utasamon niban tegara: Tsuri tenjô no semushi otoko
Jean Valjean: Part Two
Karisome no kuchibeni
Akiko
The Great White Tiger Platoon
A Husband's Chastity: Fall Again
The Roar of The Lion
Enoken’s Shrewd Period
The Monster Cat of the Fifty-Three Stations
Court Lady Fujinami
Mother's Melody
Tojuro's Love
A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes & Fall Once Again
Four Marriages
A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes
壮士劇場
Ghost-Cat of Yonaki Swamp
Learn from Experience, Part Two
Toyomi
The Water Magician
Taki no Shiraito
Maiko monogatari
Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
Ghost of Saga Mansion
Otoyo-no-kata
Mother Never Dies
Odoroki ikka
Invitation to Happiness
Dancers of Awa
The Most Beautiful
Noriko Mizushima, dorm mother
Great Bodhisattva Pass 2
Ohama
Kurama Tengu: The Fire Festival
Kuriyama Daizen
The Battle of Kawanakajima
Chiyono - widow
Kagebōshi
千賀
Lord Mito
Green Earth
Notebooks of Heiji Zenigata: Spider on the Skin
Love Letter
Zoku kagebōshi ryūkoaiutsutsu
The House of Hanging
Chizu Igarashi
Wings of Victory
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Sky of Hope
Makiko
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Tatsu Fukamachi
Legend of the Cat Monster
Akiko Ryuzoji