Ono Eiichi

Background

Ono Eiichi was born on December 6, 1924 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. He was raised in Osaka by his grandmother, as his parents divorced.

Education

In 1947, Ono Eiichi graduated from Kansai University.

Career

In 1944, Ono Eiichi was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. After the war he entered the Kōkichi Takada theatrical company, but left to join Shōchiku Company Limited (1948) where he made his film debut with "Yūkyō no mure". He left Shochiku in 1952 to start his own production company. He notably played Sasaki Kojirō in Toho's "Samurai Trilogy" (1954-1956), opposite Toshirō Mifune. He joined Toei Company in 1960, and found success with 1963's "Jinsei Gekijo: Hishakaku". For the next decade Tsuruta was the lead star of Toei yakuza actors and their hardest working, starring or guest-starring in a film every month at his peak. Memorable films include "Bakuto" (1964) and "Nihon Kyokakuden Ketto Kanda Matsuri" (1966).

Tsuruta was also a successful singer, scoring hits with such songs as "Kizudarake no Jinsei". However, in the 1970s he struggled and his performances were criticized when the yakuza genre shifted to a modern more realistic setting. He made his last film in 1985 ("Saigo no Bakuto").

Works

More photos

• film

  • The Loyal 47 Ronin

    (The Loyal 47 Ronin tells the true tale of a group of samu...)

    1958

  • The Three Treasures

    (The Three Treasures retells the story of the Yamata no Or...)

    1959

  • Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon

    (Master assassin Duke Togo - codenamed "Golgo 13" - is hir...)

    1977

  • Bloodstained Clan Honor

    (In the year 1965, with the post-WWII era now in the past,...)

    1970
  • The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

    (Taeko (Michiyo Kogure) and Mokichi Satake (Shin Saburi) a...)

    1952
  • Sympathy for the Underdog

    (Gunji is a yakuza boss whose gang is driven out of Yokoha...)

    1971
  • The Secret of the Telegian

    (At an amusement park 'Cave of Horrors' spook show, a man ...)

    1960

  • Yagyu Secret Scrolls

    1957

• films

  • Samurai Trilogy

    (The Samurai Trilogy is a film trilogy. The films are base...)

    1956

Connections

Ono Eiichi had a daughter.

Daughter:

Sayaka Tsuruta

References

• The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films The Yakuza Movie Book is the first book to look at this genre in detail. It features more than 100 film critiques and "top 10" recommendations plus profiles and interviews of famous actors and directors.
  2003