Dan Reiko RIP

[Don Brown]

Dan Reiko, one of Toho's biggest stars in the 1960s and 70s, died of heart 
failure caused by septicemia at 10:05am on the 24th at a Tokyo Hospital. 
She was 68. 

Born in Kyoto, Dan (real name Hamada Reiko) came first in the 1956 Miss 
Kimono contest. She was discovered by a Toho scout the following year at 
Itami Airport in Osaka while visiting the set of a film being shot there, 
and swiftly made her screen debut in "Mejiro Sanpei: Uchi no Nyobo" (1957). 
In 1959 she starred with Nakajima Sonomi and Shigeyama Noriko in "Daigaku 
no Onesan," the first instalment in a hit series which lasted for eight 
films. Dan subsequently became a household name as one third of the "Onesan 
Trio," and went on to star in over 10 films a year as one of Toho's leading 
actresses.

Dan featured in works by Ozu Yasujiro and Kurosawa Akira, and had appeared 
in over 100 films by her retirement in 1974. She made a brief comeback in 
1989 in "Suna no Ue no Robinson" (A Sandcastle Model Home Family), her 
first film in fifteen years, but soon disappeared once again from the 
public eye.

A wake was held on the evening of the 25th, followed by a private funeral 
on the 26th.

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/kiji/2003/11/26/03.html

Don Brown

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