Takako Irie

Biography

Takako Irie (入江 たか子 Irie Takako, 7 February 1911 – 12 January 1995) was a Japanese film actress. Born in Tokyo into the aristocratic Higashibōjō family (her birth name was Hideko Higashibōjō (東坊城 英子 Higashibōjō Hideko)), she graduated from Bunka Gakuin before debuting as an actress at Nikkatsu in 1927. She became a major star, even starting her own production company, Irie Productions, in 1932. One of Kenji Mizoguchi's silent film masterpieces, The Water Magician, was produced at that company with Irie starring. She appeared in many advertisements, as well as on fans and other commercial goods. Irie was also the subject of a folding screen painting by Nihonga artist Nakamura Daizaburō, which appeared in the 1930 Teiten (Imperial Exhibition), and which is today in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art; toy dolls were also produced based on this image. In the postwar period, Irie became known as a "ghost cat actress" (bakeneko joyū) for appearing in a series of kaidan (ghost story) movies. One of her late memorable roles was in Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro, where she plays Mutsuta's wife, the lady who warns Sanjuro (Toshirō Mifune) that "the best sword stays in its scabbard".

Known For

Mutsuta's wife

椿三十郎

Tatsu Fukamachi

時をかける少女

girl in the elevator

朝日は輝く

Noriko Mizushima, dorm mother

一番美しく

阿修羅判官

Shiho Hime

満蒙建国の黎明

Workwoman

藤原義江のふるさと

摩天楼 争闘篇

Shino

廃市

Taki no Shiraito

瀧の白糸

藤十郎の恋

投げ唄左門二番手柄　釣天井の佝僂男

良人の貞操: 春が来てまた秋が来たら

白鷺

緑の大地

Toyomi

禍福 前篇

Toyomi

禍福 後篇

人生とんぼ返り

千賀

影法師

続影法師　龍虎相搏つ

今宵妻となりぬ

エノケンのがっちり時代

怪猫有馬御殿

Otoyo-no-kata

怪談佐賀屋敷

怪猫岡崎騒動

Court Lady Fujinami

怪猫五十三次

怪猫夜泣き沼

怪猫逢魔が辻

Akiko

雁來紅

ジャンバルジャン 前篇

おどろき一家

青空天使

Chizu Igarashi

病院坂の首縊りの家

ジャンバルジャン 後篇

Tobiko Haseyama

まごころ

心の日月

鞍馬天狗 鞍馬の火祭

壮士劇場

恋文

蛇姫様

Karayuki-san

女人哀愁

母は死なず

Yukiko

雪子と夏代

この母を見よ

水戸黄門

Ohama

大菩薩峠　鈴鹿山の巻　壬生島原の巻

翼の凱歌

おもかげの街

Chiyono - widow

川中島合戰

ある映画監督の生涯 溝口健二の記録

大菩薩峠　第一篇　甲源一刀流の巻

Hiroko Kumikawa

生ける人形

早百合

東京行進曲

四つの結婚

Reiko Yamada

都会交響楽

阿波の踊子

花の白虎隊

Akiko Ryuzoji

麗猫伝説

Michiko Nonoguchi, nurse

月よりの使者

天狗の安

母の曲

荒獅子判官

又四郎喧嘩旅

幸福への招待

二十九人の喧嘩状

Makiko

希望の青空

栗山大膳

銭形平次捕物控 人肌蜘蛛

良人の貞操: た秋が来たら

良人の貞操: 前篇 春来れば