Kumeko Urabe (Japanese: 浦辺粂子), born Kimura Kume ((木村 くめ)), (October 5, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was a Japanese movie actress, one of the first in the country. She worked on stage and in film and television. Urabe was born in a rural part of the Shizuoka Prefecture. She lived in several homes while growing up, as she relocated with her father, a Buddhist priest, among the temples to which he was assigned. Urabe completed her education in Numazu, and left school in 1919 to join a theatre company, touring under various stage names as an actor and dancer. In 1923, Urabe auditioned at the film studio Nikkatsu, and adopted the name Kumeko Urabe, by which she was known for the rest of her life. She appeared in her first film the following year, and continued to act until 1987. She worked with such directors as Kenji Mizoguchi and Mikio Naruse, and performed in over 320 films, including Ikiru, Older Brother, Younger Sister, Portrait of Madame Yuki, She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum, and Street of Shame. She also starred in television dramas, including thirteen episodes of Toshiba Sunday Theatre between 1958 and 1980. In the following decade, she carved a niche as a Grandma idol, until her death in 1989.
Movie | Hachiko | Tabacco shop owner | 1987-08-01 |
Movie | Miss Lonely | Fuki Inoue | 1985-04-12 |
Movie | Before Spring | Toyo | 1980-09-20 |
Movie | Tora-san's Pure Love | 1976-12-25 | |
Movie | Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director | 1975-05-24 | |
Movie | The Izu Dancer | 1974-12-28 | |
Movie | Stray Dog | 1973-09-29 | |
Movie | The Secret Ceremony | 1971-06-23 | |
Movie | Gateway to Glory | 1969-07-12 | |
Movie | Two in the Shadow | Unknown | 1967-11-18 |
Movie | Moment of Terror | Hisako Kanematsu | 1966-04-16 |
Movie | Game of Chance | Sugi | 1966-10-22 |
Movie | An Innocent Witch | 1965-10-30 | |
Movie | Yearning | Bar Madam | 1964-01-15 |
Movie | Jakoman and Tetsu | Taka | 1964-02-08 |
Movie | Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp | 1963-06-23 | |
Movie | 18 Roughs | Gin Ishii | 1963-09-11 |
Movie | Being Two Isn't Easy | Ino | 1962-11-18 |
Movie | Nippon no obaachan | Waka | 1962-01-03 |
Movie | The Broken Commandment | Owner of the hotel | 1962-04-06 |
Movie | Love's Family Tree | 1961-11-22 | |
Movie | A Woman's Testament | 1960-01-14 | |
Movie | Tsukinode no ketto | Otani | 1960-11-16 |
Movie | The Woman Who Touched Legs | 1960-08-24 | |
Movie | The Makioka Sisters | 1959-01-14 | |
Movie | The Song of the Cart | Unknown | 1959-02-11 |
Movie | Floating Weeds | Shige | 1959-11-17 |
Movie | When a Woman Loves | Otome | 1959-09-24 |
Movie | Stakeout | Proprietress of the Hotel Hizen-ya | 1958-01-15 |
Movie | The Precipice | 1958-03-17 | |
Movie | Typhoon Over Nagasaki | 1957-02-06 | |
Movie | Snow Country | 1957-04-30 | |
Movie | Elegy of the North | Grandma | 1957-09-01 |
Movie | Tokyo Twilight | Komatsu's Mistress | 1957-04-30 |
Movie | Early Spring | Shige Kitagawa | 1956-01-29 |
Movie | Street of Shame | Otane | 1956-03-18 |
Movie | Bridge of Japan | 1956-10-01 | |
Movie | She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum | Grandmother | 1955-11-29 |
Movie | The Golden Demon | Tose | 1954-03-21 |
Movie | The Story of Shunkin | 1954-06-27 | |
Movie | Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky | Shige, Ryoichi's stepmother | 1954-11-23 |
Movie | Where Chimneys Are Seen | Kayo Nojima | 1953-03-05 |
Movie | Bot-chan | Kiyo | 1953-06-15 |
Movie | Brother and Sister | Riki - the Mother | 1953-08-19 |
Movie | The Wild Geese | Otsune | 1953-09-15 |
Movie | A Ripple in a Morning | 1952-05-01 | |
Movie | Shi no machi wo nogarete | 1952-05-22 | |
Movie | 母子鶴 | Onao | 1952-07-03 |
Movie | Lightning | Osei | 1952-10-09 |
Movie | Repast | Taniguchi Shige | 1951-11-23 |
Movie | The Life of a Horse Trader | Onobu | 1951-12-07 |
Movie | A Mother's Love | 1950-06-27 | |
Movie | Portrait of Madame Yuki | San | 1950-10-21 |
Movie | The Rainbow Man | Kane Nonomura | 1949-07-18 |
Movie | Ginza Cancan Girls | 1949-08-16 | |
Movie | Women of the Night | Brothel-keeper | 1948-05-26 |
Movie | The Tiger of Malaya | Tomi | 1943-06-24 |
Movie | Ah, My Hometown | 1938-10-06 | |
Movie | The Straits of Love and Hate | Ume | 1937-06-17 |
Movie | The Feast of Gion | 1933-08-31 | |
Movie | Mistress of a Foreigner | Omatsu | 1930-07-01 |
Movie | Osumi and Her Mother | 1924-06-29 |
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