Kunie Tanaka
Biography
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.
Top Rated Movies
Complete Filmography & Verdicts
| Year | Movie | Character | Rating | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Hidden Blade | Kanbê Katagiri | HIT | |
| 2002 | Kewaishi | - | HIT | |
| 1995 | Tora-san to the Rescue | Ship Captain | HIT | |
| 1994 | Free and Easy Special | - | HIT | |
| 1993 | A Class to Remember | Ino | HIT | |
| 1993 | Lone Wolf and Cub: The Final Conflict | Buddhist Priest | HIT | |
| 1991 | My Sons | - | HIT | |
| 1990 | Tasmania Story | - | HIT | |
| 1989 | Kita no kuni kara '89 Kikyo | - | HIT | |
| 1988 | Tomorrow | Shoji's stepfather | HIT | |
| 1987 | Take Me Out to the Snowland | Yûichirô Tayama | HIT | |
| 1985 | Demon | Keita | HIT | |
| 1983 | Choji Snack Bar | Iwashita | HIT | |
| 1978 | The Truck Rascals Go to The North | - | HIT | |
| 1978 | Dynamite Don-Don | Sakuzo | HIT | |
| 1977 | The Love and Adventures of Kuroki Taro | Kuroki Taro | HIT | |
| 1977 | Japan's Don | - | HIT | |
| 1975 | The Wild Trucker | Borsalino 2 | HIT | |
| 1975 | Doterai Man | - | HIT | |
| 1974 | Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode | Masakichi Makihara | HIT | |
| 1974 | Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics | Masakichi Makihara | HIT | |
| 1973 | Stray Dog | Sagawa | HIT | |
| 1973 | Battles Without Honor and Humanity | Masakichi Makihara | HIT | |
| 1971 | The Wolves | Matsuzo Tsumura | HIT | |
| 1971 | The Battle of Okinawa | - | HIT | |
| 1971 | The Instant Services Bureau | - | HIT | |
| 1971 | Tora-san, the Good Samaritan | Teacher Fukushi | HIT | |
| 1970 | Dodes'ka-den | Hatsutaro Kawaguchi | HIT | |
| 1969 | Goyokin | Hirosuke | HIT | |
| 1968 | The Day the Sun Rose | - | HIT | |
| 1968 | Hymn to a Tired Man | Hisataro Ohno | HIT | |
| 1967 | Birth of a Fighter | - | HIT | |
| 1966 | Zatoichi's Pilgrimage | Storyteller | HIT | |
| 1966 | The Face of Another | Mentally Ill Man #1 | HIT | |
| 1966 | The Sword of Doom | Senkichi | HIT | |
| 1966 | The Threat | - | HIT | |
| 1966 | Cash Calls Hell | Umegaya | HIT | |
| 1965 | Campus A Go-Go | - | HIT | |
| 1965 | Sword of the Beast | Tanji | HIT | |
| 1965 | Three Yakuza | - | HIT | |
| 1965 | Abashiri Prison | Otsuki | HIT | |
| 1965 | Kwaidan | Yasaku (segment "Hoichi the Earless") | HIT | |
| 1964 | The Desperate | Chiba | HIT | |
| 1962 | Pitfall | Man in White Suit | HIT | |
| 1962 | The Inheritance | - | HIT | |
| 1962 | Sanjuro | Samurai | HIT | |
| 1961 | The Merciless Trap | - | HIT | |
| 1960 | The Bad Sleep Well | Hitman | HIT | |
| 1959 | The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity | Obara Nitôhei | HIT | |
| 1959 | Lucky Dragon No. 5 | - | HIT |