Takizawa, Osamu

Early years. The beginning of a theatrical career

Osamu Takizawa was born the third son in the family of a banker in the Usigome area (now Shinjuku , Tokyo). His older brothers: Keiichi is a writer, and Kenzo is an artist who takes Otati's surname as a pseudonym ^[1] .

After graduating from high school in 1924, he enrolled in a drama course at the Maly Theater ("Tsukiji Shogekijo"). The following year, he first appeared on the stage of this theater in the production of " Julius Caesar " ^{[1] [2]} . In 1927, he simultaneously participated in the performances of the Imperial Theater . Performing on the stage of the Tsukiji Shogekijo Theater under the direction of the outstanding directors of this troupe and Kaoru Osanai , Takizawa earned a reputation as one of the best young actors by participating in productions of foreign authors Georg Kaiser , John Maysfield and others. After the death of the artistic director the troupe of Kaoru Osanai (in 1928 ), Takizawa joined the proletarian theater (literally translated as Tokyo Left Theater). Since 1931 , in connection with the beginning of Japanese aggression in Manchuria , the repression of the authorities against the proletarian theater movement intensified (plays were forbidden, leaders of the movement were arrested, etc.), the activities of the Tokyo Sayoku Gekikyo troupe were difficult, and in 1934 the theater closed ^[6] .

Theater Career

One of the founders of Tokyo Sayoku Heikijo was the playwright and director , a member of the CPJ . After the dissolution of the troupe, he campaigned for the dismissed actors to enter the ^[7] , the leftmost theater of the direction, organized by him in the same year. Osamu Takizawa was one of the participants in the formation of the troupe and one of the stars of the new scene. Here he played leading roles and earned praise from critics for the realistic performance of Hanzo Aoyama, the protagonist of Toson Shimazaki ’s play “Before Dawn” (after almost two decades, in 1953, the actor again played this role on the movie screen in the eponymous film by Kozaburo Yoshimura ). Takizawa also showed an impressive acting in the production of “Volcanic Plateau” (based on the play by ), where he played the role of Satoshi ^[1] .

On August 19, 1940, Takizawa, together with Tomoyoshi Murayama, Eitaro Ozawa , Dzyukichi Uno and others, was arrested by the military police on suspicion of violating the Law on the maintenance of peace. By order of the authorities, the troupe was dissolved ^[1] . Takizawa spent one year and four months in prison ^[1] . After leaving prison, Takizawa was unemployed for some time, then in 1943, with the support of the management of the Toho film company and in the company of actor Masao Shimizu and actress Tanie Kitabayashi , a small traveling troupe Geijutsu was organized, with which they made a living until the end of the war.

After the end of World War II, on December 14, 1945, Takizawa, along with playwright Sakae Kubo and actor Kenji Susukida, were the founders of the Tokyo Art Theater (Tokyo Geijutsu Heikijo), which did not last long. In 1947, the troupe split and Takizawa, together with Jukichi Uno and Masao Shimizu, founded the new People’s Theater (Minshu Geijutsu Heikijo) ^[8] . In May 1949 , after intra-theatrical strife, the team disintegrated and was re-created in 1950 . The new Mingei troupe of the 1950 model was formed by Junichi Uno, Tanie Kitabayashi and Osamu Takizawa ^[8] . Since then, the name of the actor has been associated with this stage. On this scene, Takizawa became famous in the role of Van Gogh in the play “The Man of Fire” ^[3] based on the play by Jiro Miyoshi. This was the role of his life and the performance continued to remain in the repertoire of the theater until the actor was 83 years old. For this work, the actor was awarded the 1951 Festival of Arts Award and the Mainity Theater Award for Best Actor of the Year at the 4th Award Ceremony (1951).

Among the successful roles on the theatrical stage ^[1] : Willy Loman in “The Death of a Salesman ” by Arthur Miller (theater awards “Mainity”, “Asahi” and “Golden Arrow”); Trigorin in The Seagull (according to A.P. Chekhov ); Otto in "The Japanese named Otto" (The Mainity Theater Award). In the 1970s, for his role in the production of Sister, he was awarded the Kinokuniya Theater Award ( 1978 ), and for the performance of Anne Frank's Diary, the Geijutsu Senseo Prize. Since the late 1980s , after the death of Dzyukichi, Uno was involved in the management of the theater troupe, as well as theatrical direction and production.

Movie career

Takizawa began acting in films back in 1933 , making his debut in one of the first Japanese sound films “Indifferent Youth” (directed by Sotoji Kimura ) ^[9] . In the 1930s, he worked at the Toho film company, in the post-war years until the mid -1950s . He worked at various studio venues: in the film companies " Shёtiku ", " Day ", " Toei " and in independent projects . Since the mid-1950s, although he continued to collaborate with various film companies, he still starred most in the film company Nikkatsu . And although cinema, according to his own statement, was a secondary affair for a theater star, he nevertheless starred in nearly two hundred films over 60 years of his career.

Of his films of the 1930s, the most interesting were the role of Kosugi in Mikio Naruse 's film “ Three Sisters Clean in Their Thoughts ” ( 1935 ) and the roles played by director Kajiro Yamamoto , a playwright of the feudal era Mondzaemon Chikamatsu in the film “Love Tojuro” and a school teacher in the “Lesson of composition” (both films - 1938 ).

After the war, attracted the attention of critics, playing the role of the humiliated and despised by the Tokyo beau monde, the aristocrat Tadahiko Andjo in the film “ The Ball at Andjo House ” ( 1947 , dir. Kodzaburo Yoshimura ). The most notable and interesting works of the actor in cinema include roles in the films ^[1] : “ Street of violence ” (prosecutor Tonami, 1950 , dir. Satsuo Yamamoto ); “ The Story of Beloved Wife ” (the role of film director Sakaguchi, 1951 ) and “ Children of Hiroshima ” (the role of Iwakichi, 1952 , dir. Both films by Kaneto Shindo ); “ Echo School ” (father Mutyaku, 1952, dir. Tadashi Imai ); “ Before Dawn ” (Hanzo Aoyama, 1953 , dir. Kodzaburo Yoshimura); The Black Current (Mr. Yamana, 1954 , dir. So Yamamura ); “ Field Lights ” (Yasuda, 1959 , dir. Kon Ichikawa ); “ The Flag in the Fog ” (Kinzo Otsuka, 1965 , dir. Yoji Yamada ); the epic from the three films “War and People” (Yusuke Godai, 1970–73, dir. Satsuo Yamamoto).

June 22, 2000 at 11 o’clock. 51 minutes Tokyo time Takizawa died in pneumonia in a hospital in Mitaka , Tokyo ^{[2] [1]} . He was 93 years old.

The eldest son, Soichi Takizawa, is a professor at Toyama International University, the author of a book about his father ^[2] .

• 1977 - awarded the Medal of Honor with a purple ribbon for his merits in the field of theatrical art.
• 1986 - awarded the Order of the Holy Treasure .

• Osamu Takizawa on the Internet Movie Database

• Ozaki K. , “The New Japanese Theater”, trans. with Japanese., M., 1960.