| Yusaku Matsuda | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 21, 1949 Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan |
| Died | November 6, 1989 (aged 40) Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1972–1989 |
| Spouse | Michiko Kumamoto (1975–1981, divorced) Miyuki Kumagai (1983–1989, his death) |
Yusaku Matsuda (松田 優作 Matsuda Yūsaku, September 21, 1949 – November 6, 1989) was a Japanese actor. Yusaku was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi to a Zainichi Korean mother. His father is not known. His date was wrongly recorded as 1950 on his birth records due to a parental error in filing a report.
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He became an actor when he was 23 as a rookie police officer, the "Jeans Detective", for the 1970s Japanese TV detective drama called Taiyō ni hoero! (太陽にほえろ! "Bark at the Sun") in Japan. Apart from this role, his other defining role on television was in Tantei Monogatari (detective story), in which he starred as an incompetent private detective. He featured in many other TV shows and movies. He won the award for best actor at the 8th Hochi Film Award for Detective Story and The Family Game.[1] He specialized in physical action movies. The 1989 movie Black Rain— directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia— opened the door for Matsuda as an international actor. However, shortly after he made this movie, he died due to bladder cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1988.[2] His legacy was succeeded by his four children (including Ryuhei And Shota, both of whom became actors).
His mother Kaneko Matsuda (nee Kim) was Korean who married a Japanese man, who perished during World War II. After his death, Kaneko became a prostitute to support Yusaku's half brothers and met his father was married man. Matsuda never met his father. [3] In 1966, he stayed with his aunt in America for one year.
He married Michiko Kumamoto in 1975 and had one daughter, before they divorced in 1981 after six years of marriage. In 1983, he married Miyuki Kumagai (whom their relationship begun when she was 17) and had three children (two of them would follow his footsteps in acting), before his death in 1989. He would become a grandfather, when his son Ryuhei's daughter was born on July 4, 2009.
In 1988, Matsuda was diagnosed with bladder cancer, before shooting began for Black Rain. According to his widow, Matsuda refused the doctor's orders of undergoing chemotherapy, as he thought it would affect his ability to act in the film. She also said that during the filming, he would urinate blood. After shooting of the film was finished in March 1989, his cancer had spread to his spine and lungs, making it inoperable. Director Ridley Scott and Matsuda's American co-stars Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, and Kate Capshaw highly praised him for his professionalism and performance, despite the fact that he was suffering.
On October 7, 1989, Matsuda was hospitalized. A month after he was admitted, Matsuda died at 6:45 PM JST on November 6 at the age of 40, at a Tokyo hospital. His death shocked the Japanese world, as he influenced a generation of fans through his work that is still being felt today.
He was buried in Nishitama cemetery, in Akiruno, Tokyo.[4]
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Ookami no Monsho | Haguro |
| 1974 | Tomodachi | Komatsu |
| Ryoma Ansatsu | Yuta | |
| Abayo Dachi Ko | ||
| 1976 | Bouryoku Kyoshitsu | |
| Hito Goroshi | ||
| 1977 | Ningen no Shomei | Detective Koichiro Munesue |
| 1978 | Mottomo Kiken na Yugi | Shouhei Narumi |
| Satsujin Yugi | ||
| 1979 | Midare Karakuri | |
| Oretachi ni Haka wa Nai | Katsuo Shima | |
| The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf | Tetsuya Asakura | |
| Shokei Yugi | Shohei Narumi | |
| 1980 | Rape Hunter Nnerawareta Onna | |
| Bara no Hyoteki | Hotel guest | |
| The Beast to Die | Kunihiko Date | |
| 1981 | Yokohama BJ Blues | BJ |
| Kagero-za | Shungo Matsuzaki | |
| 1983 | The Family Game | Katsu Yoshimoto |
| Detective Story | Shuichi Tsujiyama | |
| 1985 | Sorekara | Daisuke Nagai |
| 1986 | A Homansu | Kaze |
| 1988 | Wuthering Heights | Onimaru |
| A Chaos of Flowers | Takeo Arishima | |
| 1989 | Black Rain | Sato |
The asteroid 79333 Yusaku was named in his honour on 1 June 2007.
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