Ogata Ken

[Aaron Gerow]

I was sad to see the news on the Mainichi site that the actor Ogata  
Ken died on the 6th at the age of 71. The cause of death has not been  
released, but he apparently attended a press conference for a new TV  
series on the 30th and only recently fell ill.

Ogata was one of the most impressive actors from the 1970s on,  
something that may have come from the fact that he started out in  
Shinkokugeki (the same acting troupe that gave birth to Okochi  
Denjiro, one of my other favorite actors). Ogata made his film debut  
in 1960, but did not really make an impact until the 1970s with  
Imamura Shohei films like Vengeance Is Mine and Narayama Bushiko. He  
was firmly established as one of the top film actors, appearing in  
controversial films like Schrader's Mishima (as Mishima), big budget  
spectaculars like Oroshiyakoku suimudan, and even action flicks like  
Gonin 2. His physical presence and original character (shown off most  
when he wore sunglasses) made an impression in anything he appeared  
in. Both his eldest son, Kenta, and his second son, Naoto, are actors.

He was too young. There were a lot of good films left in him.

Aaron Gerow
Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
site: www.aarongerow.com