Ken Ogata

Ken Ogata

1937-07-20 – 2008-10-05 (age 71) Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
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Biography

Ken Ogata (緒形 拳 Ogata Ken, 20 July 1937-5 October 2008) was a Japanese actor.

Ogata was born in Tokyo, Japan. Ogata is well known for his roles in Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and Shohei Imamura's The Ballad of Narayama. He won the award for best actor at the 26th Blue Ribbon Awards for Okinawan Boys.

In television, his starring role as Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1965 NHK Taiga drama Taikōki catapulted him to fame. Ken went on to many prominent roles in subsequent programs. The following year, he portrayed Benkei in Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The network tapped him again for the role of Fujiwara no Sumitomo in the 1976 Kaze to Kumo to Niji to. He returned to playing Hideyoshi in the 1978 Ōgon no Hibi, and returned to the lead as Ōishi Kuranosuke in Tōge no Gunzō, the 1982 Chūshingura. Another featured appearance in a Taiga drama was in Taiheiki (1991, as Ashikaga Sadauji, father of Takauji).

Mr. Ogata died on October 5, 2008, just days after finishing his role in the production of the Fuji TV drama "Kaze no Garden" (Garden of the Winds), filmed in the rural Furano area of northern Japan. In his final role, Ogata, himself 71 years of age, played a doctor involved in the end-of-life care of elderly patients.

His sons Kanta and Naoto Ogata are actors. NHK selected Naoto for the starring role of Oda Nobunaga in the 1992 Taiga drama Nobunaga King of Zipangu; Kanta played Inaba Masakatsu in Aoi Tokugawa Sandai (2000).

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Known For

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Miracle Banana
Miracle Banana

2005

as Takashi Yamamura

Edo Porn
Edo Porn

1981

as Hokusai

The Ballad of Narayama
The Ballad of Narayama

1983

as Tatsuhei

The Peacock King
The Peacock King

1988

as Jiku Ajari

Okinawan Boys
The Pillow Book
The Pillow Book

1995

as The Father

Samurai Reincarnation
Samurai Reincarnation

1981

as Musashi Miyamoto

Virus
Virus

1980

as Prof. Tsuchiya

Vengeance Is Mine
Vengeance Is Mine

1979

as Iwao Enokizu

Izo
Izo

2004

as Swordsman

Oar
Oar

1985

as Iwago Tomita

Shogun's Shadow
Shogun's Shadow

1989

as Igo Gyobu

Kokkai e ikô!
Tracked
Tracked

1985

as Tokichi Sakane

The Demon
The Demon

1978

as Sokichi Takeshita

Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally
Love and Honor
Love and Honor

2006

as Magohachiro Kibe

The Geisha
The Geisha

1983

as Katsuzo

Heat Wave
Heat Wave

1991

as Police