The first of two hits in quick succession for veteran theme team Dead Continent, Machiko Kyo was one of Japan’s most venerated actresses. Starting her career off as a dancer in the post-WW2 era, she soon found herself in demand as a supporting actress specialising in playing feudal-era noblewomen. However it was as the raped (or perhaps not) wife of a samurai in Rashomon that she found fame in the west, and cemented a place in cinematic history. Post-Rashomon she had a few shots at Hollywood, most notably in The Teahouse of the August Moon with Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford, but she soon returned back to Japan to continue her career as a leading lady. With the downturn of the Japanese film industry in the early 1970s she went into semi-retirement, only appearing in high-paying, low-credibility productions every few years until her death.
Machiko Kyo
March 25, 1924 – May 12, 2019
Died aged 95