Kiyoshi Atsumi
Acting · Born 1928-03-10 · age 68 at death · Tokyo, Japan
Kiyoshi Atsumi (渥美 清 Atsumi Kiyoshi), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所 康雄 Tadokoro Yasuo, 10 March 1928 in Tokyo – 4 August 1996 in Tokyo), was a Japanese film actor. He started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show theater in Asakusa. After two years of fighting pulmonary tuberculosis, he made his debut on TV in 1956 and on film in 1957. His vivid performance of a lovable, innocent man in a film “Dear Mr. Emperor” (Haikei Tenno-Heika-Sama) in 1963 established his reputation as an actor. Later he became the star of the highly popular Tora-san series of films, from the original Otoko wa Tsurai yo (translated in English as 'It's Tough being a Man') in 1969 to the 48th film released in 1995, the year before his death. The enduring success of the series made him synonymous with the Tora-san character, and many Japanese regarded his death as the death of Tora-san, not the death of Yasuo Tadokoro or Kiyoshi Atsumi.
Titles
Tora! Tora! Tora!
The Castle of Sand
The Yellow Handkerchief
A Distant Cry from Spring
Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp
The Man Without a Map
Where Spring Comes Late
Tora-san's Cherished Mother
The Village
Village of Eight Gravestones
Home from the Sea
Tora-san, His Tender Love
Downtown Heroes
Tora-san Loves an Artist
Tora-san's Forget Me Not
Tora-san's Runaway
Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies
A Class to Remember
Tora-san, the Good Samaritan
Tora-san's Love Call
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True
Escape from Hell
Tora-san's Grand Scheme
Tora-san's Shattered Romance
Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza
Tora-san's Dear Old Home
Tora-san's Lullaby
Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset
Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again
Tora-san's Lovesick
Tora-san, the Intellectual
Tora-san Plays Cupid
Sing, Young People!
Tora-san's Dream of Spring
Tora-san's Pure Love
Tora-san Meets His Lordship
August Without Emperor
Tora-san, My Uncle
Stage-Struck Tora-san
Tora-san Confesses
Tora-san Goes North
Tora-san, the Go-Between
Tora-san's Easy Advice
Tora-san to the Rescue
Gamblers' Luck
Tora-san Goes Religious?
Tora-san's Forbidden Love
Tora-san Makes Excuses
Tora-san's Tropical Fever
Talk of the Town Tora-san
Tora-san, the Matchmaker
Attack Squadron
Tora-san's Promise
Tora-san's Salad-Day Memorial
Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san
Marriage Counselor Tora-san
Tora-san Goes to Vienna
Tora-san's Island Encounter
Tora-san Plays Daddy
Tora-san Takes a Vacation