Ken Shimura

Ken Shimura (志村けん, Shimura Ken^?) (born Yasunori Shimura (志村康徳, Shimura Yasunori^?), February 20, 1950 in Higashimurayama, Tokyo), is a Japanese comedian and actor. He co-starred with Masashi Tashiro, Nobuyoshi Kuwano in the Japanese variety show "Ken Shimura no Bakatono-sama".

He is most famous for starring in Hachiji Da Yo! Zen'in Shugo! with the comedy group The Drifters and Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan with Cha Kato, another former member of The Drifters.

[edit] Filmography

Poppoya (鉄道員, Poppoya^?): The everyday life of a railway stationmaster and his fellow workers.

From September to October 1996, a rumor that he had died was circulated.
In 2001, he did a duet with Naoko Ken as "Ken♀♂Ken" in "Ginza atari de Gin Gin Gin" (銀座あたりでギンギンギン, "Ginza atari de Gin Gin Gin"^?).
In April 2002, he recorded a one-off single with Hello! Project's unit "Mini Moni", with the collaboration credited to "Bakatono to Mini Moni Hime" (バカ殿様とミニモニ。姫, "Bakatono to Mini Moni Hime"^?). They recorded two songs named after a catch phrase of his, "Ai-in".

His stage name "Ken" comes from his father's name "Kenji" (憲司, "Kenji"^?). His father worked as a vice-principle in an elementary school and Shimura was brought up in a strict family. However, his father suffered from dementia since he was involved in a car accident in front of their home when Ken was in Junior High.

In April 2005, during the demonstrations in China against Japan becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a photograph of his face was put on a website for the Chinese anti-Japanese movement for reasons that are unclear.

He is well-known not only in Japan, but also in Taiwan, Thailand, and India. It is also notable that Takeshi Kaneshiro is a fan of his.

Shimura severely criticized former co-star Masashi Tashiro after Tashiro's arrest, saying, "I want that fellow to disappear from the entertainment world because he did a pathetic thing."