Kunie Tanaka profile
Actor profile

Kunie Tanaka

23rd November 1932 Toki, Gifu, Japan Acting

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.

274 Movies 14 TV Shows 292 Credits
Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

Tomorrow poster
Tomorrow 13th August 1988 as Shoji's stepfather
Demon poster
Demon 31st August 1985 as Keita
Manhunt poster
Manhunt 11th February 1976 as Yokomichi Keiji
Tenchu! poster
Tenchu! 9th August 1969 as Rokkaku Prison Officer
Kwaidan poster
Kwaidan 6th January 1965 as Yasaku (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
Pitfall poster
Pitfall 1st July 1962 as Man in White Suit