was a Japanese actor.

Biography

Tamba is perhaps best known by Western audiences for his role as Tiger Tanaka in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice (he was dubbed by Robert Rietti). By then, he had among other roles appeared in two films by director Masaki Kobayashi: Harakiri and Kwaidan. He also portrayed the lead character in the police dramas Key Hunter and G-Men '75, the latter of which remains his best-known role in Japan.

He also portrayed the voice of the "Cat King" in the original Japanese version of the Studio Ghibli anime film The Cat Returns. More recently, he had parts in Twilight Samurai and two Takashi Miike films, The Happiness of the Katakuris and Gozu, as well as acting as a spokesperson for the Dai Rei Kai spiritual movement.

Tamba's son, Yoshitaka Tamba, is also an actor.

In February 2005, Tamba was hospitalized for influenza and appendicitis. He lost weight drastically and his health degenerated. On September 25, 2006, he died in Tokyo at the age of 84 of pneumonia.

Filmography

Films

• Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi (The Ghost of Kasane) (1957)
• Meijitennou to nichi ro dai sensou (1957)
• Tange hidari zen (1963)
• Juu san nin no shikaku (1963)
• The 7th Dawn (1964)
• Ansatsu (1964)
• You Only Live Twice (1967)
• The Five Man Army (1969)
• Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)
• The Human Revolution (1973)
• Japan Sinks (1973)
• Castle of Sand (1974)
• Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974)
• Shinkansen dai bakuha (1975)
• Zoku ningen kakumei (1976)
• Ozora no samurai (1976)
• Hakkoudasan (1977)
• Shogun's Samurai: The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy (1978)
• Koutei no inai hachigatsu (1978)
• Message from Space (1978)
• Akou jou danzetsu (1978)
• 203 kochi (1980)

• Rengou kantai (1981)
• Makai Tensho: Samurai Reincarnation (1981)
• Dai nippon teikoku (1982)
• Giwaku (1982)
• Nihonkai taikai sen umi yuka ba (1983)
• Shura no mure (1984)
• Kukai (1984)
• Rei sen yu (1984)
• Shuto Shoushitsu (1987)
• Hai kara-san ga tooru (1987)
• 226 (1989)
• Teito Taisen (1991)
• Edojou Tairan (1991)
• Riki-Oh (1991)
• Peking Genjin: Who Are You? (1997)
• Neji Shiki (1998)
• Crayon Shin-chan Bakuhatsu! Onsen waku waku dai kessen (1999)
• Inou Chuukei ~Shigosen no Yume~ (2001)
• Neko no Ongaeshi (2002)
• Duri baka nisshi 13 hama chan kikiippatsu! (2002)
• Japan Sinks (2006)

TV dramas

• Tange hidari zen
• Spy Catcher J3 (1965)
• Key Hunter (1968 TBS)
• Jikiru to hai do (1973)
• Eyeful Dai Sakusen (1973 TBS)
• Birdie Dai Sakusen (1974 TBS)
• G-Men '75 (1975 TBS)
• G-Men '82 (1982 TBS)
• Aoi Hitomi no Sei Life (1984 Fuji)
• Super Police (1985 TBS)
• HOTEL (TBS)
• Chōshichirō Edo Nikki (1983 NTV)
• Ōgon no Hibi (1978 NHK)
• Shishi no Jidai (1980 NHK)
• Tōge no Gunzō (1982 NHK)
• Miyamoto Musashi (1984 NHK)

• Sanada Taiheiki (1985-86 NHK)
• Chūshingura (1985)
• Kayō Suspense Gekijō Bengoshi Takabayashi Ayuko series (1986-2005 NTV)
• Mito Kōmon (1986 TBS)
• Byakkotai (1986)
• Inochi (1986 NHK)
• Tabaruzaka (1987)
• Shunjitsu kyoku (1989 NHK)
• Juu san nin no shikaku (1990)
• Minamotonoyoshitsune (1991)
• Tairanokiyomori (1992 TBS)
• Hashi ran ka! (1995 NHK)
• Jikuu keisatsu sousa ichi ka (2001)
• Toshiie to Matsu (2002 NHK)
• Yoshitsune (2005 NHK)

Awards and Nominations

Awards Won

• 2000: Nikkan Sports Film Award: Best Supporting Actor for 15-Sai: Gakko IV
• 1981: Japan Academy Prize: Best Supporting Actor for 203 kochi
• 1981: Blue Ribbon Awards: Best Supporting Actor for 203 kochi
• 1974: Mainichi Film Award: Best Actor for Ningen kakumei

Awards Nominated

• 2001: Japan Academy Prize: Best Supporting Actor for 15-Sai: Gakko IV

Footnotes

External links

• Tetsuro Tamba at the Internet Movie Database
• Japanese wikipedia page (also source)
• BBC article, retrieved December 10, 2006.
• 地獄: キャスト (Hell: Cast-- < Asu Shino > Tetsuro Tamba). Jigoku Homepage. (1999). Retrieved on 2008-02-07..