Kinuyo Tanaka
Kinuyo Tanaka (田中 絹代 Tanaka Kinuyo, 29 November 1909 – 21 March 1977) was a Japanese actress and director.
Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. She became a leading actress at an early age, appearing in Yasujirō Ozu's I Graduated, But... in 1929. The following year she played the lead in Aiyoku no ki, and in 1931 she appeared in Japan's first talkie, The Neighbor's Wife and Mine, directed by Heinosuke Gosho.
She had a close working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi, having parts in 15 of his films, including leading roles in The Life of Oharu (1952), Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954). Their working relationship ended when Mizoguchi countered a recommendation from the Directors Guild of Japan for the Nikkatsu studio to hire her as a director. Despite this, the production of her second film as director went ahead, but Tanaka never forgave Mizoguchi, and the reasons for his behaviour are unclear. She also played Noboru Yasumoto's mother in Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (1965). For her portrayal in Kei Kumai's Sandakan N° 8 she won the Best Actress Award at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival in 1975. Her last screen appearance was in 1976 in Kei Kumai's Kita No Misaki.
Tanaka was the second Japanese woman who worked as a film director, after Sakane Tazuko (1904‐1975). Her first directing job was on the film Love Letter in 1953, and she made five further films in that role.
Known for
A Wanderer's Notebook
Kishi, Fumiko's mother
Red Beard
Madame Yasumoto
Ugetsu
Miyagi
The Woman in the Rumor
Hatsuko Mabuchi
Sansho the Bailiff
Tamaki
The Love of the Actress Sumako
Sumako Matsui
Miss Oyu
Oyû Kayukawa
A Hen in the Wind
Tokiko Amamiya
Mominoki wa Nokotta
Tsuta
Dragnet Girl
Tokiko
Lullaby of the Earth
The Lady of Musashino
Michiko Akiyama
The Life of Oharu
Oharu
The Three Treasures
Princess Yamato
Equinox Flower
Kiyoko Hirayama
The Munekata Sisters
Setsuko Munekata
The Ballad of Narayama
Orin
Sandakan No. 8
Old Osaki
Woman of Tokyo
Harue
Flowing
Rika Yamanaka / Oharu
Women of the Night
Fusako Owada
Forever a Woman
Neighbor's Wife
Mother
Masako Fukuhara
Ginza Cosmetics
Yukiko Tsuji
On This Earth
Omitsu, Heiichiro's mother
Army
Waka
Her Brother
Mother
Utamaro and His Five Women
Okita
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
Oshige
The Dancing Girl of Izu
Kaoru, a dancer
The Moon Has Risen
Yoneya
Ornamental Hairpin
Emi
Cape of the North
Old Nun
I Flunked, But...
Cafe's waitress
Young Lady
Kinuko
Love Letter
Landlady
The Scent of Incense
Tsuna
Bright Sea
Nobuko Yazaki
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Osayo koisugata
Osayo
I Graduated, But...
Machiko Nomoto
Let's Go in Good Spirits
Burden of Life
Itsuko Kuriyama
A Legend, or Was It?
Shizuko Sonobe
Yotsuya Ghost Story Part 2
Oiwa / Osode
Yotsuya Ghost Story Part 1
Oiwa / Osode
Alone Across the Pacific
Youth's Mother
Flame of My Love
Eiko Hirayama
Where Chimneys Are Seen
Hiroko Ogata
Seisen aiba fu: Akatsuki ni inoru
Chiyo
My Elder Brother
Sumako
Men vs. Women
Stepbrothers
Rie
Chikamatsu's Love in Osaka
Myokan
Wedding Ring
Noriko Kuki
(Street of Wandering Pigeons) When Will the Birds Come Home
Oshige
Okoto and Sasuke
Okoto
The Eternal Rainbow
Fumi
The Blacksmith of the Forest
Omitsu
Yellow Crow
Yukiko Matsumoto
Sorrow Is Only for Women
The Neighbour's Wife and Mine
Wife of the playwright
Wakarete ikiru toki mo
Michi's Mother
A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo
Okinu
The Fencing Master
Oharu
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True
the old family mistress
Victory of Women
Hiroko Hosokawa
Sincere Heart
Kuniko
Five Sisters
Zoku aizen katsura
The Loyal 47 Ronin
Yae
Mother and Child
Chieko
The Tree of Love
Katsue Takaishi
Victory Song
Woman who sings lullaby
Hahakogusa
Shige Ozawa
The Inner Palace Conspiracy
Onaka
The Life of Workers in the Big City
The Genealogy of Women
Otsuta
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
Self (archive footage)
Let's Go, Grandma!
Kiku Sasaki
Banchō sarayashiki
Air Raid of the Enemy Plane
Kiyo
Story of Lightning
Women in Prison
Prison Warden
The Ataka Family
Kuniko Ataka
Lady Doctor Kinuyo
Kinuyo Yamaoka
Sisters of Nishijin
Kono sora no aru kagiri
The Man Who Has Returned
Karabotan
Kaisen no Zenya
Love, Be with Humanity: Part 2
Flower
An Innocent Maid
Oshige
That Night's Woman
Double Wedding
Okayo's Preparedness
Okayo
Mama, I Need You!
Shōnen shikeishū
The Storm
How Sorrowful
An Heir's Place
Hisa Hosho
Miyamoto Musashi
Shinobu Nonomiya
Phoenix
Sayoko Aihara
Spring Thunder
The Village Bride
Weeds with flowers
Geisha in the Old City
Oei
Sanbaba
Youth, Why Do You Cry?
The Bride Talks in Her Sleep
Haruko, bride
Osaka Woman
Riku no ôja
The New Road: Akemi
Sôbô
The Age of Emotion
Confession
A Man's Recompense: Part 2
Okinu and Banto
The New Road: Ryota
Marching On
A Certain Woman
Song of the Flower Basket
Yoko
Kinuyo's First Love
Kinuyo Tanaka, a Woman We Talk About
self (archive footage)
ABC Lifeline
Record of a Woman Doctor
Tsukiyo no kasa
A Man's Recompense: Part 1
Marriage
Fumie Matsukawa