Toshiro Mifune (三船敏郎, Mifune Toshirō, April 1, 1920 – December 24, 1997) was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films.
Mifune was born in Tsingtao, China, to Japanese parents and grew up in Dalian. He did not set foot in Japan until he was 21. His father was an importer and a commercial photographer, and young Toshiro worked in his father's studio for a time after graduating from Dalian Middle School. He was automatically drafted into the Japanese army when he turned 20, and enlisted in the Air Force where he was attached to the Aerial Photography Unit for the duration of the World War II. In 1947 he took a test for Kajirô Yamamoto, who recommended him to director Senkichi Taniguchi, thus leading to Mifune's first film role in These Foolish Times II (1947).
Mifune then met and bonded with director Akira Kurosawa, and the two joined to become the most prominent actor-director pairing in all Japanese cinema. Beginning with Drunken Angel (1948), Mifune appeared in 16 of Kurosawa's films, most of which have become world-renowned classics. In Kurosawa's pictures, especially Rashomon (1950), Mifune would become the most famous Japanese actor in the world. A dynamic and ferocious actor, he excelled in action roles, but also had the depth to plumb intricate and subtle dramatic parts. A personal rift during the filming of Red Beard (1965) ended the Mifune-Kurosawa collaboration, but Mifune continued to perform leading roles in major films both in Japan and in foreign countries. He was twice named Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival (for Yojimbo (1961) and Red Beard (1965)). In 1963 he formed his own production company, directing one film and producing several others. In his later years he gained new fame in the title role of the American TV miniseries Shogun (1980), and appeared infrequently in cameo roles after that. His last years were plagued with Alzheimer's Syndrome and he died of organ failure in 1997, a few months before the death of the director with whose name he will forever be linked, Akira Kurosawa.
Appearances in US Productions[edit]
- 1994 Picture Bride as The Benshi
- 1991 Journey of Honor as Ieyasu Tokugawa
- 1982 The Challenge as Toru Yoshida
- 1981 Inchon! as Saitō-san
- 1981 The Bushido Blade (Movie) as Commander Fukusai Hayashi
- 1980 Shogun (Mini-series) | Shogun]] as Toranaga Yoshii
- 1979 Winter Kills as Keith (secretary)
- 1979 1941 as Commander Akiro Mitamura
- 1976 Midway as Isoroku Yamamoto
- 1968 Hell in the Pacific as Captain Tsuruhiko Kuroda
- 1966 Grand Prix as Izō Yamura
Notes[edit]
- Mifune: The Last Samurai, also known as Mifune, is a 2015 biographical documentary directed by Steven Okazaki.
- In the Japanese animated series Speed Racer (1967), the hero was named Go Mifune as a tribute to him and the M on the hood of the Mach 5 and Speed Racer's helmet was in tribute to him.
- Reportedly watched films of lions in the wild for inspiration for his character in Seven Samurai (1954).
- In the graphic novel series "Usagi Yojimbo", Usagi's overlord is named Lord Mifune, in his honor.
- He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6912 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on November 14, 2016.
- He was offered the role of Tiger Tanaka in You Only Live Twice (1967), but he turned it down in favour of Grand Prix (1966).
- Mifune was one of the first people to see the original Godzilla (1954), as he was invited to a Toho staff screening and Shinto ceremony for the film.
- The character of Bushuri (Earth-Four) in the DC Universe is modeled after Mifune's likeness.