Machiko Kyō

Machiko Kyō

1924-03-25 – 2019-05-12 (age 95) Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
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Biography

Machiko Kyō (Japanese: 京 マチ子 Hepburn: Kyō Machiko, March 25, 1924 – May 12, 2019) was a Japanese actress whose film work occurred primarily during the 1950s. She rose to extraordinary domestic praise in Japan for her work in two of the greatest Japanese films of the 20th century, Akira Kurosawa's Rashōmon and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu.

Machiko trained to be a dancer before entering films in 1949. The following year, she would achieve international fame as the female lead in Akira Kurosawa's classic film Rashōmon. Kyō starred in many more Japanese productions, including Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu (1953) and Street of Shame (1956), Teinosuke Kinugasa's Gate of Hell (1953), Kon Ichikawa's Odd Obsession (1959), Yasujirō Ozu's Floating Weeds (1959), and Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Face of Another (1966).

Her only role in a non-Japanese film was as Lotus Blossom, a young geisha, in The Teahouse of the August Moon, starring opposite Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford.

In her eighties, Kyō continued to perform in traditional Japanese theatrical productions put on by famed producer Fukuko Ishii. Her final role was as Matsuura Shino in the NHK television drama series Haregi Koko Ichiban in 2000. Kyō was nominated for a Golden Globe for The Teahouse of the August Moon, a great feat for an Asian actress at the time, and was awarded many prizes, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Awards of the Japanese Academy.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Machiko Kyō, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Known For

Rashomon
Rashomon

1950

as Masako

The Woman Who Touched Legs
The Woman Who Touched Legs

1960

as Saya Shiozawa

Born Fighter
Born Fighter

1970

as Sue Yoshida

Beauty and the Thief
The Motherland Far Far Away
The Motherland Far Far Away

1950

as Mari, daughter

The Face of Another
The Face of Another

1966

as Mrs. Okuyama

Tainted Flowers
Ugetsu
Ugetsu

1953

as Lady Wakasa

Gate of Hell
Gate of Hell

1953

as Lady Kesa

Floating Weeds
Floating Weeds

1959

as Sumiko

Solar Eclipse
The Sea of Beauty
Kurosawa
Kurosawa

2000

as Self

Phoenix
Street of Shame
Street of Shame

1956

as Mickey

Odd Obsession
Odd Obsession

1959

as Ikuko Kenmochi

Taki no Shiraito
Taki no Shiraito

1952

as Taki no Shiraito

Dancing Girl
Dancing Girl

1957

as Chiyomi Hanamura

The Legendary Hell
The Legendary Hell

1960

as Oden Takahashi