Machiko Kyō

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Machiko Kyō in 1959

Machiko Kyō ( Japanese 京 マ チ 子 , Kyō Machiko ; actually Motoko Yano ( 矢野 元子 , Yano Motoko ); born March 25, 1924 in Osaka ; † May 12, 2019 in Tokyo ) was a Japanese actress . Kyō was able to celebrate its greatest success in the 1950s and is considered the first femme fatale of Japanese cinema. During this time she was one of the most successful and well-known actresses in Japan. As one of the few Japanese actresses of her generation, Kyō also gained fame in Hollywood .

Life

Machiko Kyō was born Motoko Yano in Osaka in 1924. When the child was five years old, the father left the family, so Kyō was raised by her mother and grandmother. In 1936, twelve-year-old Machiko Kyō began a career as a stage actress and later as a dancer in a club in Osaka. It was at this time that she also adopted her stage name.

In 1949, Kyō was signed by the production company Daiei and made her first film with Hana kurabe tanuki-goten that same year . Her big breakthrough came the following year with Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon in the role of the rape victim Masako . Kyō's convincing performance made her a star overnight and the first femme fatale of Japanese cinema. Because of her looks, she was also known as the " Marilyn Monroe of Japan".

In 1953 Machiko Kyō was seen as court lady Kesa in the historical drama The Gate of Hell . In the same year she celebrated another great success with Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu - Tales under the Rain Moon , which was followed by the high phase of her career: Within ten years she made around forty films, including the role of Lotos Blossom in the US in 1956. Comedy The Little Tea House at Marlon Brando's side , for which she received a Golden Globe nomination the following year . During the 1950s Machiko Kyō was considered one of the most popular and highest paid actresses in Japan.

1959 Kyō played the female lead in the film drama farewell at dusk from Yasujirō Ozu . Afterwards she limited herself mainly to supporting roles. From 1970 Kyō left her career, in which she had worked with the greatest Japanese directors of the time, to end. Her last appearance as an actress was in 2000 in an episode of the Haregi TV series , koko ichiban .

Machiko Kyō has received several major film awards in Japan and several international awards for her acting. In 2017, Machiko Kyō received the Academy's honorary award on the occasion of the 40th Japanese Academy Award (Nihon akademi). After her film career ended, she moved back to her native Osaka, where she lived until her death.

Machiko Kyō died on May 12, 2019 at the age of 95 of heart failure in a hospital in Tokyo.

Awards

Filmography (selection)

Machiko Kyō as Yang Guifei in Yōkihi , 1955

Web links

Commons : Machiko Kyō  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Hollywood Foreign Press Association: Machiko Kyo. In: goldenglobes.com. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .
  2. ↑ To Eastern Star Looks West . in: Life . Volume 41, Number 23, Time Inc. , New York December 1956, Page 143.
  3. ↑ Japan Academy Film Prize: 会長 特別 賞. Retrieved May 1, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Gavin J. Blair: Japanese Actress Machiko Kyo, Star of Akira Kurosawa's 'Rashomon', Dies at 95. May 14, 2019, accessed on May 14, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Kyō, machiko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kyo machiko; 京 マ チ 子 (Japanese); 矢野 元子 (real name, Japanese); Yano Motoko (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese film actress
DATE OF BIRTH March 25, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Osaka
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 2019
Place of death Tokyo