Kurosawa Toshio

No relation to the legendary director Kurosawa Akira, Kurosawa Toshio carved out his own unique niche in the Japanese entertainment industry. He entered Toho as a fresh face in the studio's 4th "New Face" competition in 1964, having dropped out of high school to pursue acting.

He quickly made an impression with his intensity, most famously as the fanatical Major Hatanaka Kenji in the war epic Japan's Longest Day (1967), portraying the officer's refusal to accept surrender with chilling conviction. After leaving Toho in 1971 to freelance, he became a cult figure for his role as the reporter Ashio Ryûrei in Lady Snowblood (1973), a film that would later inspire Quentin Tarantino.

A multi-talented performer, Kurosawa also enjoyed success as a singer, releasing the hit song "Tokiniwa Shôfu no Yôni" in 1978. In 2008, he published a memoir detailing his battle with colon cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1992.