Acting
Mar 24, 1924
Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Machiko Kyō
Acting
Biography
Machiko Kyō (Japanese: 京 マチ子 Hepburn: Kyō Machiko, March 25, 1924 – May 12, 2019) was a Japanese actress whose film work occurred primarily during the 1950s. She rose to extraordinary domestic praise in Japan for her work in two of the greatest Japanese films of the 20th century, Akira Kurosawa's Rashōmon and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu. Machiko trained to be a dancer before entering films in 1949. The following year, she would achieve international fame as the female lead in Akira Kurosawa's classic film Rashōmon. Kyō starred in many more Japanese productions, including Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu (1953) and Street of Shame (1956), Teinosuke Kinugasa's Gate of Hell (1953), Kon Ichikawa's Odd Obsession (1959), Yasujirō Ozu's Floating Weeds (1959), and Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Face of Another (1966). Her only role in a non-Japanese film was as Lotus Blossom, a young geisha, in The Teahouse of the August Moon, starring opposite Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford. In her eighties, Kyō continued to perform in traditional Japanese theatrical productions put on by famed producer Fukuko Ishii. Her final role was as Matsuura Shino in the NHK television drama series Haregi Koko Ichiban in 2000. Kyō was nominated for a Golden Globe for The Teahouse of the August Moon, a great feat for an Asian actress at the time, and was awarded many prizes, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Awards of the Japanese Academy. Description above from the Wikipedia article Machiko Kyō, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Feature Films (103)
Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.
Rashomon
Based on the original work of Akutagawa Prize-winning writer Ashihei Hino, the film depicts the love of the proud geisha Nobukichi Hakata in the early Taisho era.
A Geisha on Horseback
A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his new doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality and causing him to question his identity.
The Face of Another
Follows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.
Street of Shame
In post-WWII Japan, an American captain is brought in to help build a school, but the locals want a teahouse instead.
The Teahouse of the August Moon
A middle-aged husband of a younger woman finds her youth intimidating to the point that he cannot become aroused. His solution involves the introduction of his daughter's lover to his wife.
Odd Obsession
Television & Series (3)
A historical romance about the life of Princess Nukata, a Manyo poetess who was loved by two brothers, Emperor Tenji and Emperor Tenmu, and the formation of an ancient nation.
Nukata no Ōkimi
The story takes place during the Muromachi period of Ancient Japan, in the midst of the Ōnin War. The main character in the series is Tomiko Hino, a historical figure with a bad reputation because of her actions to rebuild Kyoto after the Ōnin War.
Hana no Ran
TV series starring Ikko Furuya, based on the Kosuke Kindaichi mystery novel series by Seishi Yokomizo.
