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Kiyoshi Atsumi

Mar 10, 1928 - Aug 04, 1996 (68 years old) in Tokyo, Japan

Kiyoshi Atsumi (渥美 清 Atsumi Kiyoshi), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所 康雄 Tadokoro Yasuo, 10 March 1928 in Tokyo – 4 August 1996 in Tokyo), was a Japanese film actor. He started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show theater in Asakusa. After two years of fighting pulmonary tuberculosis, he made his debut on TV in 1956 and on film in 1957. His vivid performance of a lovable, innocent man in a film “Dear Mr. Emperor” (Haikei Tenno-Heika-Sama) in 1963 established his reputation as an actor.

Later he became the star of the highly popular Tora-san series of films, from the original Otoko wa Tsurai yo (translated in English as 'It's Tough being a Man') in 1969 to the 48th film released in 1995, the year before his death.

The enduring success of the series made him synonymous with the Tora-san character, and many Japanese regarded his death as the death of Tora-san, not the death of Yasuo Tadokoro or Kiyoshi Atsumi.

Known For

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It's Tough Being a Man
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Tora! Tora! Tora!
Cook #1 (uncredited)
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The Castle of Sand
Movie Theater Manager
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Tora-san, the Matchmaker
Torajiro
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Tora-san's Tropical Fever
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Tora-san's Salad-Day Memorial
Torajiro Kuruma
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Foster Daddy, Tora!
Torajiro Kuruma
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Stage-Struck Tora-san
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August without Emperor
Kubo
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A Class to Remember
(cameo)

Credits