Kunie Tanaka

About

Kunie Tanaka (田中 邦衛 Tanaka Kunie, November 23, 1932 - March 24, 2021) was a Japanese actor. He had his first notable role in 1960 as a thug in Akira Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well, and worked with the director again on Sanjuro. Tanaka is well known for his roles in Kinji Fukasaku's yakuza films, namely the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series. He also appeared in Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan. He has been nominated for five Japanese Academy Awards, winning the Best Supporting Actor statuette for Gakko in 1993. He appeared as the lecherous Shinjiro Ishiyama, nicknamed Aodaishō, the antagonist of the hero, played by Yūzō Kayama, in all of the Wakadaishō series of films. The character Kizaru, from Eiichiro Oda's manga series One Piece, is modeled after Tanaka.

Known for

From the Northern CountrySeries • 1981KwaidanMovie • 1965SanjuroMovie • 1962The Human Condition II: Road to EternityMovie • 1959ManhuntMovie • 1976The Bad Sleep WellMovie • 1960The Face of AnotherMovie • 1966Dodes'ka-denMovie • 1970The Bullet TrainMovie • 1975Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police TacticsMovie • 1974Battles Without Honor and HumanityMovie • 1973GoyokinMovie • 1969The Sword of DoomMovie • 1966Graveyard of HonorMovie • 1975Tenchu!Movie • 1969The DemonMovie • 1978Zatoichi's PilgrimageMovie • 1966PitfallMovie • 1962The InheritanceMovie • 1962Evil of DraculaMovie • 1974Bandits vs. Samurai SquadronMovie • 1978Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final EpisodeMovie • 1974Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy WarMovie • 1973New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 1Movie • 1974