Hideyo Amamoto(1926-2003)
- Actor
One of Japan's most distinctive character actors, Eisei Amamoto is one
of their cinema's few personalities who is easily recognizable to
Western movie buffs. Tall (six feet) and skeletal of build, bony-faced
and wild-haired (when not ensconced in a vast silver wig), Amamoto's
persona inspired Woody Allen to dub him with an imitation Peter Lorre
voice in What's Up Tiger Lily? (1966). He was better served by Paul
Frees' menacing tones in King Kong Escapes (Kingukongu no gyakushu,
1967). But neither voice matches Amamoto's own, surprisingly deep and
resonant for his scrawny, sunken-chested frame. It might have served
him well had he pursued his original career choice: politics. He barely
managed to dodge the draft into Japan's Pacific War, through acceptance
to Tokyo University, his nation's most prestigious school. He studied
law, for he wished to become a diplomat, but he soon grew disillusioned
in his studies, his world view darkened by the mire into which his
country was plunging through its disastrous war. A sympathetic older
sister rescued him from his self-confessed nihilism by introducing him
to friends in the entertainment field who encouraged Amamoto to become
an actor. Through these connections, Amamoto landed a place in the
highly regarded Hayuza group of stage actors, where in an early bit of
what would become typecasting, he portrayed a knife-wielding madman in
the play "Dojinkai". There he was spotted by director Keisuke
Kinoshita, who observed "THERE'S an interesting-looking guy", and
promptly cast him in a small but pivotal role in his classic
Twenty-Four Eyes (1954). Amamoto later joined Toho Studios, where he
was at first nothing more than a background player in the likes of
Nippon Tanjo (1959). His parts grew steadily larger and more showy in
the likes of Denso ningen (The Secret of the Telegian, 1960) and
Yojinbo (1961). By the late 1960s he was equally recognized for samurai
films like Sword of Doom and science fiction/fantasy projects like
Kingukongu no gyakushu (1967). Though he could hardly be less similar
to Peter Lorre, he is at least as big a cult figure in present-day
Japan, lending his name and presence to any number of films, TV shows
and animated productions. As well, he has cultivated a reputation as an
eccentric TV talkshow presence. Always fascinated by the country of
Spain, he has also played flamenco guitar on the stage, sometimes in
collaboration with his friend and fellow actor Yoshio Tsuchiya. He has
written several books about Spain, and spends as much time living there
as he can.
