Mariko Okada

Mariko Okada
Mariko Okada in 1962
Born (1933-01-11) January 11, 1933 (age 91)
NationalityJapanese
Occupation(s)Actress, film producer
Years active1951–present
Spouse
(m. 1964; died 2022)
Parent(s)Tokihiko Okada (father)
Sonoko Tazuru (mother)

Mariko Okada (岡田 茉莉子, Okada Mariko, born 11 January 1933) is a Japanese stage and film actress who starred in films of directors Mikio Naruse, Yasujirō Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita and others. She was married to film director Yoshishige Yoshida.[3]

Biography

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Okada was born the daughter of silent film actor Tokihiko Okada (real name Eiichi Takahashi), who died the year following her birth,[4] and raised by her mother's sister in her early childhood.[1] She gave her film debut in Mikio Naruse's 1951 Dancing Girl,[5] for whom she worked again in Husband and Wife, Floating Clouds and Nagareru. Unsatisfied with the roles she was assigned to, she left Toho studios after her contract expired, and signed with Shochiku.[1] In the following years, she starred in Yasujirō Ozu's Late Autumn and An Autumn Afternoon, Keisuke Kinoshita's Spring Dreams and The Scent of Incense, and Heinosuke Gosho's Hunting Rifle.

The 1962 Akitsu Springs was Okada's 100th film[6] and the first under the direction of her future husband Yoshishige Yoshida.[7] Between 1965 and 1971, she starred in all of Yoshida's films, independently produced melodramas narrated in an avant-garde fashion, of which Eros + Massacre was the formally most radical.[7]

In later years, she appeared in films like Juzo Itami's Tampopo and Shinji Aoyama's My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? (2005),[8] her last film role to date.[1] She also regularly performed on stage and on television.[1]

Partial filmography

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Film

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Mariko Okada and Yoko Sugi in Husband and Wife (1953)
Year Title Role Notes
1951 Dancing Girl Shinako
1953 Husband and Wife Kumiko, Shigekichi's sister
1954 Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto Akemi
1955 Floating Clouds Sei Mukai
1955 The Lone Journey Otaka
1955 Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple Akemi
1956 Flowing Nanako
1956 Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island Akemi
1957 Yagyu Secret Scrolls Rika
1957 When It Rains, It Pours Matsuko Abe
1960 Spring Dreams Chizuko Okudaira
1960 Late Autumn Yuriko Sasaki
1961 Hunting Rifle Midori
1961 Enraptured Senya
1962 An Autumn Afternoon Akiko Hirayama
1962 Akitsu Springs Shinko Also Producer
1964 The Scent of Incense Tomoko
1965 A Story Written with Water Shizuka, Shizuo's mother
1965 Illusion of Blood Oiwa
1966 Woman of the Lake Miyako Mizuki
1967 The Affair Oriko
1968 Affair in the Snow Yuriko Anzai
1969 Eros + Massacre Noe Ito
1970 Heroic Purgatory Nanako, Rikiya's wife
1977 Proof of the Man Kyoko Yasugi
1978 The Fall of Ako Castle Riku
1982 Conquest Hiroko Tadokoro
1985 Tampopo "Spaghetti Sensei", the etiquette coach
1987 A Taxing Woman Mitsuko Sugiura
1998 The Geisha House Hanaman's owner
2002 Women in the Mirror Ai Kawase
2005 My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? Navi

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1978 The Yagyu Conspiracy Lady Kasuga
1985-1986 Sanada Taiheiki Yodo-dono

Bibliography

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  • Joyū Okada Mariko (2009)

Awards

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  • 1958: 13th Mainichi Film Awards - Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Season of the Demon Girl (悪女の季節, Akujo no Kisetsu)[9]
  • 1962: 36th Kinema Junpo Awards - Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Love This Year (今年の恋, Kotoshi no Koi) and Kiriko's Fate (霧子の運命, Kiriko no Unmei)[10]
  • 1962: 17th Mainichi Film Awards - Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Love This Year and Akitsu Springs (秋津温泉, Akitsu Onsen)[11]
  • 1998: Golden Glory Award and Platinum Grand Prize, 8th Japan Movie Critics Awards[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "岡田茉莉子 (Okada Mariko)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. ^ "吉田喜重さんが死去 映画監督、「秋津温泉」". Yamagata Shimbun. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  3. ^ Jacoby, Alexander; Amit, Rea (13 December 2010). "Midnight Eye interview: Yoshishige Yoshida". Midnight Eye.
  4. ^ "岡田時彦 (Okada Tokihiko)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  5. ^ "岡田茉莉子 (Okada Mariko)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  6. ^ "秋津温泉 (Akitsu Springs)". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  7. ^ a b Jacoby, Alexander (2008). Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press. p. 363. ISBN 978-1-933330-53-2.
  8. ^ Weissberg, Jay (18 May 2005). "Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachtani? - Variety". Variety.
  9. ^ 楢山節考 第13回(1958年度)毎日映画コンクール(日本映画大賞)受賞 (in Japanese). Mainichi Film Awards. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  10. ^ 1962年 キネマ旬報賞 (in Japanese). MovieWalker at Walkerplus.com. Retrieved 30 January 2009.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ 切腹 第17回(1962年度)毎日映画コンクール(日本映画大賞)受賞 (in Japanese). Mainichi Film Awards. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  12. ^ "日本映画批評家大賞 JAPAN MOVIE CRITICS AWARD" (in Japanese). Japan Movie Critics Award. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
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