Keiju Kobayashi
Kobayashi in 1955
Born(1923-11-23)November 23, 1923
Gunma, Japan
DiedSeptember 16, 2010(2010-09-16) (aged 86)
OccupationActor
Years active1942–2009

Keiju Kobayashi (小林桂樹, Kobayashi Keiju, 23 November 1923 – 16 September 2010) was a Japanese actor who appeared in 253 films in a career spanning 67 years.

Born in Gunma Prefecture,[1] he began acting at the Nikkatsu studio after dropping out of Nihon University and made his film debut in 1942.[2][3][4] In 1956 he moved to Toho film company.[3] In a career that spanned 65 years, he appeared in over 250 films, most famously in the "Company President" (Shachō) comedy films made at Toho, where he worked alongside Hisaya Morishige, Daisuke Katō, Norihei Miki, and others.[4] There he helped define the popular image of the postwar salaryman.[5] He also won many awards for his acting, including best actor awards at the Mainichi Film Awards for The Naked General in 1958 (where he played Kiyoshi Yamashita),[6] for Kuroi gashū in 1960,[7] and for The Elegant Life of Mr Everyman in 1963.[8] Kobayashi appeared in films made by such notable directors as Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse, and Kihachi Okamoto. He continued to give powerful performances after largely moving to television in the late 1960s.[5]

He also portrayed the voice of the "Shirō Nishi" in the original Japanese version of the Studio Ghibli anime film Whisper of the Heart in 1995.[9]

He died on 16 September 2010 of heart failure at the age of 86.[1][4]

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Dubbing

Honours

References

  1. 1 2 "Actor Keiju Kobayashi dies at 86". The Japan Times. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  2. ↑ "小林桂樹さん逝く…サラリーマン像非凡に演じる". スポニチ. 2010-09-19. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  3. 1 2 "Keiju Kobayashi Biography". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Cremin, Stephen (19 September 2010). "Veteran actor Kobayashi Keiju dies". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  5. 1 2 Gerow, Aaron (18 September 2010). "Kobayashi Keiju". Tangemania. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  6. ↑ "Mainichi Eiga Konkūru no ayumi: 1958-nen" (in Japanese). Mainichi Film Awards. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "Mainichi Eiga Konkūru no ayumi: 1960-nen" (in Japanese). Mainichi Film Awards. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "Mainichi Eiga Konkūru no ayumi: 1963-nen" (in Japanese). Mainichi Film Awards. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  9. ↑ "西 司朗(小林 桂樹)". 映画スクエア. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  10. ↑ "夫婦(1953)". Japanese Cinema Database. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  11. ↑ "わんわん物語". The Cinema. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
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