Tomisaburo Wakayama
, born Masaru Okumura (奥村 勝), was a Japanese actor best known for playing Ogami Ittō, the scowling, 19th-century ronin warrior in the six Lone Wolf and Cub samurai films. Biography Wakayama (his stage name) was born on September 1, 1929, in Fukagawa, a district in Tokyo, Japan. His father was Minoru Okumura (奥村 実), a noted kabuki performer and nagauta singer who went by the stage name Katsutōji Kineya (杵屋 勝東治), and the family as a whole were kabuki performers. He and his younger brother, Shintaro Katsu, followed their father in the theater. Wakayama tired of this; at the age of 13, he began to study judo, eventually achieving the rank of 4th dan black belt in the art. In 1952, as part of the Azuma Kabuki troupe, Wakayama toured the United States of America for nine months. He gave up theater performance completely after his two-year term with the troupe was over. Wakayama taught judo until Toho recruited him as a new martial arts star in their jidaigeki movies, originally using the stage name "Jō Kenzaburō". He prepared for these movies by practicing other disciplines, including kenpō, iaidō, kendo, and bōjutsu. All this helped him for roles (now using the stage name "Wayakama Tomisaburō") in the television series The Mute Samurai, the 1975 television series Shokin Kasegi (The Bounty Hunter), and his most famous film role: Ogami Ittō, the Lone Wolf. Wakayama went on to star in many films, performing in a variety of roles. It has been estimated that he appeared in between 250 and 500 films. His only roles in American movies were as a baseball coach in The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978) and as a yakuza boss, Sugai, in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989) that delivers a memorable English monologue that becomes a defining moment for the film, and the film's title. Wakayama died of acute heart failure on April 2, 1992, in a hospital in Kyoto. He was survived by a son, Kiichirō Wakayama (若山 騎一郎) born in 1964, also an actor. Filmography Film Wakayama appeared in the following films, amongst others. 1955–1959 Banba no Chûtarô (1955) - Banba no Chutaro Uta matsuri mangetsu tanuki-gassen (1955) Gyakushu orochimaru (1955) - Toyama Yunosuke Silver Snake Iwashiya (1956) Yotsuya kaidan (1956) - Iemon Tamiya Ningyô Sashichi torimonochô: Yôen roku shibijin (1956) - Ningyo Sashichi Yôun Satomi kaikyoden (1956) - Inuzuka Shino Ningyô Sashichi torimonochô: Ôedo Ushimitsudoki (1957) - Ningyo Sashichi Ningyô Sashichi torimonochô: Hanayome Satsujinma (1957) - Ningyo Sashichi Kanhasshû ken kajin (1958) Ningyô Sashichi torimonochô: Ukiyoburo no Shibijin (1958) - Ningyo Sashichi Ningyô Sashichi torimonochô: Koshimoto Irezumi Shibijin (1958) - Ningyo Sashichi Doto no taiketsu (1959) Fukaku hichô (1959) Fukaku hichô: kanketsuhen (1959) Chiyari musô (1959) Hibari torimonochô: furisode koban (1959) Yukinojô henge (1959) Hayate monzaburo (1959) Rage (1959) 1960-1969 Hibari no mori no ishimatsu (1960) - Shimizu No Jirocho - Boss Of The Tokaido Tenpô rokkasen - Jigoku no hanamichi (1960) Jirochô kesshôki: Nagurikomi kôjinyama (1960) - Okita Soji Tenryu haha