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September 26, 2006

TETSURO TAMBA DIES

Tetsuro Tamba One of Japan's major screen presences passed away yesterday: Tetsuro Tamba died at the age of 84. With well over 300 movies in his filmography, Tamba appeared in two of the greatest Japanese movies of all time - HARAKIRI and KWAIDAN - as well as dozens of so-so flicks, artfilms, and mainstream movies. Western audiences know him best as Tiger Tanaka in the James Bond film YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, or as Grandpa in Takashi Miike's HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS.

He was also a pivotal figure in Japan's Great Spirit World Cult.

You can read obituaries here and, more memorably, here.

September 26, 2006 at 08:56 AM in News | Permalink

Comments

I met him very very briefly in Kyoto, back when I had no idea who he was except he was playing a bit part in a TV movie I saw being filmed. But then I saw that TV movie a few months later and more recently Harakiri and saw he was really good! He'll be missed, but at least he apparently knows where he's going.

Posted by: Adamu | Sep 26, 2006 9:48:33 AM

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