11 Facts About Isuzu Yamada

Isuzu Yamada was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades.

Isuzu Yamada debuted as a film actress in 1930 at age twelve, appearing in the Nikkatsu film Tsurugi wo koete opposite Denjiro Okochi.

Isuzu Yamada soon became one of Nikkatsu's top actresses, but it was her portrayals of strong-willed modern girls in Kenji Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion in 1936 at the new Daiichi Eiga studio that earned her popularity and critical acclaim.

In 1946, in opposition to the union strike at Toho, Isuzu Yamada sided with the anti-unionist group "Ju hito no hata no kai", which consisted of Hasegawa, Setsuko Hara, Hideko Takamine and others.

Isuzu Yamada moved from Toho to the Shintoho studios, but later left Shintoho as well to become a freelancer.

Isuzu Yamada married leftist actor Yoshi Kato, her third husband, and in the wake returned to the union, joined the Mingei Theatre Company and co-founded the Gendai Haiyu Kyokai theatre group.

Isuzu Yamada died from multiple organ failure in Tokyo on 9 July 2012 at the age of 95.

Isuzu Yamada was married four times, to actor Ichiro Tsukita, to producer Kazuo Takimura, to actor Yoshi Kato, and to actor Tsutomu Shimomoto.

Isuzu Yamada earned the Blue Ribbon Award and the Mainichi Film Award For Best Actress simultaneously two times: in 1952 for Gendai-jin and Hakone fuunroku, and in 1956 for Boshizo, A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women, and Flowing.

Isuzu Yamada received the Blue Ribbon Award For Best Supporting Actress in 1955 for Takekurabe and Ishigassen.

Isuzu Yamada was named a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 1993 and became the first actress to receive the Order of Culture in 2000.