Nobuo Nakamura

Biography

Nobuo Nakamura (中村伸郎 Nakamura Nobuo, September 14, 1908 – July 5, 1991) was a prominent Japanese actor renowned for his significant roles in the works of renowned directors Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu during the 1950s and 1960s. Among his most memorable performances are that of the unsympathetic deputy mayor in Kurosawa's "Ikiru" (1952), and the subservient husband of a hairdresser in Ozu's classic "Tokyo Story" (1953).

In addition to his film work, Nakamura made a name for himself in the theater. In 1937, he co-founded the Bungakuza theater company with notable figures such as Haruko Sugimura, Seiji Miyaguchi, and Masayuki Mori. His stage credits include portrayals of Polonius in "Hamlet," Herod in Wilde's "Salome," Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," and Krapp in "Krapp's Last Tape." His repertoire also featured performances in "Macbeth," "The Merchant of Venice," and "The Cherry Orchard." During the 1950s and 1960s, he took on significant roles in plays by Yukio Mishima, including "Rokumeikan" and "My Friend Hitler." In 1963, he departed from Bungakuza to establish the NLT company with Mishima. His most celebrated role is considered to be that of The Professor in Ionesco's "The Lesson," which he first performed in 1972 and continued to portray every Friday night at a small theater in Shibuya, Tokyo, until 1983.