Takako Irie
Actor
Born February 7, 1911 in Tokyo, Japan
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".
Filmography
The Deserted City
Shino
Legend of the Cat Monster
Akiko Ryuzoji
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Tatsu Fukamachi
The House of Hanging
Chizu Igarashi
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Self
Sanjuro
Mutsuta's wife
Lord Mito
Ghost-Cat of Yonaki Swamp
Fighting Letter for 29 People
The Monster Cat of the Fifty-Three Stations
Court Lady Fujinami
Matashirō Fighting Journey
The Roar of The Lion
The Ghost Cat of Ouma Crossing
The Great White Tiger Platoon
Nage Utasamon niban tegara: Tsuri tenjô no semushi otoko
Terrible Ghost Cat of Okazaki
Maiko monogatari
Tsumakoi kuroda bushi
Ghost-Cat of Arima Palace
Love Letter
Ghost of Saga Mansion
Otoyo-no-kata
Kurama Tengu: The Fire Festival
Judge of the Ashuras
Blue Sky Angel
Zoku kagebōshi ryūkoaiutsutsu
Kagebōshi
千賀
Odoroki ikka
Invitation to Happiness
Political Theater
Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
Life Is like a Somersault
Four Marriages
The Most Beautiful
Noriko Mizushima, dorm mother
Omokage no machi
Wings of Victory
Mother Never Dies
Green Earth
Sky of Hope
Makiko
The Battle of Kawanakajima
Chiyono - widow
White Heron
Dancers of Awa
Sincerity
Tobiko Haseyama
Enoken’s Shrewd Period
Tojuro's Love
Learn from Experience, Part Two
Toyomi
Learn from Experience, Part One
Toyomi
Shirobara wa sakedo
A Husband's Chastity: Fall Again
A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes & Fall Once Again
A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes
Karayuki-san
Mother's Melody
A Woman's Sorrows
Kuriyama Daizen
Great Bodhisattva Pass
Karisome no kuchibeni
Akiko
Tsuki yori no shisha
Michiko Nonoguchi, nurse
The Water Magician
Taki no Shiraito
Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen
Jean Valjean: Part Two
Jean Valjean: Part One
Behold This Mother
Tokyo March
早百合
A Living Puppet
Hiroko Kumikawa
The Morning Sun Shines
girl in the elevator
Metropolitan Symphony
Reiko Yamada