Acting
Oct 4, 1902
Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Kumeko Urabe
Acting
Biography
Kumeko Urabe (Japanese: 浦辺粂子), born Kimura Kume ((木村 くめ)), (October 5, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was a Japanese movie actress, one of the first in the country. She worked on stage and in film and television. Urabe was born in a rural part of the Shizuoka Prefecture. She lived in several homes while growing up, as she relocated with her father, a Buddhist priest, among the temples to which he was assigned. Urabe completed her education in Numazu, and left school in 1919 to join a theatre company, touring under various stage names as an actor and dancer. In 1923, Urabe auditioned at the film studio Nikkatsu, and adopted the name Kumeko Urabe, by which she was known for the rest of her life. She appeared in her first film the following year, and continued to act until 1987. She worked with such directors as Kenji Mizoguchi and Mikio Naruse, and performed in over 320 films, including Ikiru, Older Brother, Younger Sister, Portrait of Madame Yuki, She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum, and Street of Shame. She also starred in television dramas, including thirteen episodes of Toshiba Sunday Theatre between 1958 and 1980. In the following decade, she carved a niche as a Grandma idol, until her death in 1989.
Feature Films (253)
A young salaryman and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he embarks on an extramarital affair.
Early Spring
The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno's death.
Hachiko
The film depicts the scarring of Yosaburo at the hands of yakuza thugs who catch him with mistress of the gang boss. Despite the physical and emotional scars he now carries with him, Yosaburo falls for a young noblewoman. The rest of the film follows the two as they fend off attacks from gangs and the police.
Scarred Yosaburo
The salaryman is the object of admiration in the world. Because there is no more carefree job than this, this cheerful song comedy is set to the hit melody of the Hajime Hana and the Crazy Cats.
The Salaryman's Carefree Life: What a Relaxed Job This Is!
Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue is a 1927 black and white Japanese silent film directed by Tomiyasu Ikeda.[1] This comedy film showcases the comic talent of Denjiro Okochi, which contrasts markedly with his heroic performance in Oatsurae Jirokichi Koshi. The humorous exchanges with Goro Kawabe, his senior at Nikkatsu, can be priceless, with the expressions and movements of the two goofy characters making for pure, hilarious slapstick comedy. A 15-minute remnant of the film was released on DVD by Digital Meme with benshi accompaniment by Midori Sawato and Ryubi Kato.
Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue
Follows five prostitutes employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.
Street of Shame
After the boxing champion retires, the head of a powerful gym, Minegishi (So Yamamura), recommends Yamanaka (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), who is no longer in top form and is ranked number one, for a title fight, but his comrade Hata (Kojiro Hongo) is not happy with this choice, and so he moves to the gym run by the criminal businessman Goda (Toru Abe) and burning desire to beat Yamanaka.
Victory and Defeat
Television & Series (2)
A bride arrives at the Shimizu household, where the seven members of the family live as they please. However, the groom, the youngest son of the family, is going to study alone in the USA, and the bride is left alone in the eccentric house.
Kininaru Yomesan
Sugiyama was undergoing training in Moses Lake, USA, for the Boeing 747 model transition training. After passing the exam and returning to Japan, he found that his wife Ayako had disappeared...