
Ken Takakura
Known for: Acting
Born: February 16, 1931
Died: November 10, 2014
Ken Takakura (高倉 健, Takakura Ken), born Gouichi Oda (February 16, 1931, in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan), was a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brings to his roles. Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka. This subject was covered in one of his most famous movies, Showa Zankyo-den (Remnants of Chivalry in the Showa Era), in which he played…
Known for

The Longest Tunnel
1982

The Yellow Handkerchief
1977

47 Ronin
1994

Never Give Up
1978

Rogue
1968

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
2005

Tokyo Untouchable
1965

Antarctica
1983

The Bullet Train
1975

Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues
1961

The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Whirlwind
1961

Railroad Man
1999

Blackmail
1963

Manhunt
1976

Main Street in the Underworld
1964

An Outlaw
1964

A Distant Cry from Spring
1980

Golgo 13
1973

The Outsiders
1958

Tokyo's Business District
1962

Mount Hakkoda
1977

Buddies
1989

Station
1981

Dearest
2012

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2
1966

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf
1966

Demon
1985

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4
1967

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
1969
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny
1970

Brutal Tales of Chivalry
1965

Showdown in Blood
1957

If You're Man Enough
1960

Abashiri Prison
1965

Wolves, Pigs & Men
1964

All Rascals
1962

Tokyo Untouchable: Escape
1963

Winter's Flower
1978

The Firefly
2001

The Domain
1964

The Homeless
1974

A Portrait of the Author
1984

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love
1971

Lightning Karate Blow
1956

Prison Boss
1968

Choji Snack Bar
1983

The Path of the King
1971

The Revolt
1980

Prison Walls of Abashiri 4
1965

New Prison Walls of Abashiri
1968

Flower, Storm and Gangster
1961

Four Hours of Terror
1959

Devil's Nursery Rhyme
1961

Glorious Fights
1966

The International Gang of Kobe
1975

Ken San
2016

365 Nights
1962

The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Rush
1960

Tales of President Mito
1962

Outlaw Under a Blue Canopy
1960

Patience Has An End
1971

The Bullet and the Horse
1966

House of Gamblers
1970

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 6
1969

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die
1972

The Chivalrous Life
1967

New Prison Walls of Abashiri 2
1969

Prison Walls of Abashiri 3
1965

Jakoman and Tetsu
1964

A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
1967

The Domain: Flower and Dragon
1969

New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter
1971

The Drifting Avenger
1968

Yakuza of the Present
1973

Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2
1965

Third Generation Boss
1974

New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape
1971

Brothers Serving Time
1969

The Escape
1962

The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Eternity
1960

The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
1965

Great Jailbreak
1975

Lullaby for a Tough Guy
1972

Storm Party
1964
Employee Full of Fight
1957

New Prison Walls of Abashiri: The Vagrant Comes to a Port Town
1969

Japan's Top Gangster
1973

Abashiri Prison: Duel in Hokkaido
1967

The Boss
1965

Abashiri Prison: Duel in the South
1966

Abashiri Prison: Duel in the Snow Country
1966

New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri
1970

New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stray Wolf in Snow
1970

New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm
1972

Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil
1967

The Domain: Rising Dragon
1970

The Domain: The Naniwa Story
1965

Dagger
1971

The Domain: White Blade
1967

The Domain: Severed Relations
1968

The Domain: Where The Blade Enters
1967

The Domain: Duel at Thunder Gate
1966

The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown
1966

Path of Japanese Chivalry: Story of All-Out Attack
1975

Umi e, See You
1988

A Hoodlum At The Risk Of His Life
1970

Histories of the Chivalrous
1968

The detective whose path was crossed by a snake
1995

Meteor Karate Strike
1956

A Man's Dark Finger
1959

The Counterfeiters
1959

Midair Circus
1958

Defeat the Boss
1963

Violent Street
1963

Storming Squadron
1960

The Silent Murder
1959

Night of the Suspicions
1959

Tokyo Gang vs. Hong Kong Gang
1964

South Pacific Waves Are High
1962

The Yakuza
1974

Men Fighting Whales
1957

Mr. Baseball
1992

Red Peony Gambler
1968

Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game
1969

Brave Red Flower of the North
1970

Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
1965

The Deep Blue Sea
1957

Classmates
1967

The Last Kamikaze
1970
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2
1960

With Songs in My Heart
1958
Romance Freestyle
1958

Sister with Sister
1958

Detective Duel
1958

The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka
1962

Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san
1961

No Advice Taken
1958

The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 3
1960

The Second Bullet is Marked
1960

Samurai Geisha
1969

Beyond the Seasonal Wind
1958

Bloodiest Flower
1971

Mother Peacock
1956

The Biggest Gamble
1969

The Prickly-Mouthed Geisha Goes to Sado
1961

Gang Loyalty and Vengeance
1963

The Big Boss
1963

The Bastards of Lawless Town
1959

Lady Sen and Hideyori
1962

The Great Road
1960

続べらんめぇ芸者
1960

Black Rain
1989

A Dead Drifter
1959

The Kamikaze Guy
1966

Hell's Companion
1959

The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
1972

Jet Air Base 101
1957

Man of Thirteen Eyes
1958

Duel of the Underworld
1963

His Pistol is Hell
1958

Uragirimono wa jigoku daze
1962

G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization
1956

Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza
1968

Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony
1969

Monsoon Son
1958

恐怖の空中殺人
1956

Manchurian Sunset
1956

The Man
1971

Yukyo-retsuden
1970

The Sand City in Manchuria
1960

Hell's Kitchen
1962

The Chop Professor
1956

Gambler Biography
1968

Code of Chivalry
1967

Operation Diamond
1962

Monsoon Son Pt.2
1958

Black Rain: Making The Film
2006

Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple
1964

Karate Cop
1982

Life of Hishakaku
1963

Hell's Juggler
1961

The Japan Derby Race
1970

Gambler's Legacy
1969

Delinquent Angel
1960

Eleven Gangsters
1963
The Day the Sun Rose
1968

Song of Kagoshima
1962

The Happy Family
1959

The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4
1961

A Fugitive from the Past
1965

Too Late the Hero
1970

Showdown of Men
1966

A Fishwife's Tale
1961

Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
1991

The Pledge
1972

Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of Two Sword Style
1963

Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
1969

Older brother
1977

SMAP×SMAP
1996

An Elegy of Tyrole
1992

Korekara: Umibe no Tabibitotachi
1993