Background
Hiroshi Abe is a 1988 graduate of Chuo University.
His modeling debut was in March 1985, winning "Shueisha 3rd Nonno Boyfriend Champion" (Nonno was one of the most popular Japanese teen magazines). He showed up regularly on Nonno's cover, and when "Men's Nonno" premiered, he was the cover model for the first 43 issues. He had his first TV drama leading role in 1990. His hits include the dramas "Trick" and "Dragon Zakura" and movies in the "Hokuto no Ken" (Fist of the North Star) series. At 1.89m he is quite a bit taller than the average Japanese guy. He is noted for his height, as most Japanese actors are much shorter.
His sense of humor got him noticed as more than just a pretty face, and he was soon making regular appearances on popular Fuji TV noontime variety show "Waratte Iitomo", in the "cool guys" section. In 1988, during his last year of college, he made his first foray into professional acting with the movie "Haikara-san Ga Touru" ("Trendy Girl Passes By"). It was a bumpy start, but he showed a special talent for comedic roles, and he was soon one of Japan's leading actors. He has appeared in dozens of television shows, movies, commercials, and stage dramas.
His first Japanese television drama was "Let's have Romance" (Koi wo simashō Yumin wo kikinagara) (1988. As of 2003, he has starred or co-starred in an astonishing 84 shows, appearing in at least one per three-month cycle since 1996.
As of 2003 he has starred in 36 movies, starting with "Haikara-san Ga Touru" (1988). Abe has appeared in hundreds of television commercials, for such companies as VISA, Sekisui Chemical Industry, Johnson & Johnson, Glico (Gum), Sapporo Beer, Toyota, and National.
Abe Hiroshi married his wife, who is 15 years younger than him, in 2008 after making an official announcement in November of 2007. They have two children (2011 and 2012 year of birth).