Bollywood: Legendary Actor Sonny Chiba Dies At 82

Legendary Japanese actor, martial artist, and stuntman Sonny Chiba has died at the age of 82 from complications resulting from COVID-19. Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba, a six-time black belt, had a long and industrious film career, starring in well over 100 films over the course of his lifetime. Chiba was one of the first Japanese actors to achieve international success after New Line Cinema released an English-dubbed version of The Street Fighter in 1974. He is best known by Western audiences for his work in Kill Bill: Vol 1 as Hattori Hanzo and The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift for his role as Uncle Kamata.

Chiba, born Sadaho Maeda in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1939, was not initially interested in becoming an actor and, during his high school years, was on track to participate in the Olympics before a back injury sidelined him. While in university, Chiba studied martial arts under the guidance of Masutatsu "Mas" Oyama, a revered Kyokushin Karate master. Chiba enjoyed American films, particularly Westerns like Shane and High Noon, and got his start in the film industry in the early 1960s starring in tokusatsu superhero tv shows like Seven Color Mask. Outside of acting in his own films, Chiba also created The Japan Action Club, an organization dedicated to training aspiring stunt performers and martial arts film actors.

As per CBR, Chiba contracted pneumonia and was hospitalized on August 8 where he soon after became infected with COVID-19. Despite receiving respiratory treatments at the Kimitsu hospital, Chiba ultimately succumbed to his illness on August 19th. Chiba leaves behind three children, Juri Manase, Gordon Maeda, and Mackenyu Arata, who all currently work as actors in the Japanese film industry.

For many, Chiba had the perfect career, dancing between acting and stunt performing and bringing the work of the renowned cinematic legends of yesteryear into the modern era. In his vast filmography, both Japanese and American, Chiba was able to demonstrate his advanced martial arts capabilities (which would inspire films for decades) while also showcasing his thoughtful approach to character acting. As he got older, Chiba may have begun to spend more time choreographing fights for films, but that didn't stop him from appearing in films himself, regularly coordinating acting roles in Japanese film and TV while continuing his work on American films as well.

Chiba's talent soon caught the eye of a young Quentin Tarantino, who hadn't yet rocketed to worldwide fame with Pulp Fiction. Tarantino even referenced Chiba's legendary film work in 1993's True Romance, a film he wrote for Director Tony Scott, but one that still exists in his shared film universe. In the film, when Clarence and Lucy are talking at the bar, Clarence suggests "a Sonny Chiba triple feature. 'The Streetfighter,' 'Return of the Streetfighter,' and 'Sister Streetfighter.'" Lucy asks Clarence who Sonny Chiba is and Tarantino, perhaps, has the best and most succinct summation of Chiba's career when he has Clarence reply: "He is, bar none, the greatest actor working in martial arts movies today."

More: The Films That Inspired Every Quentin Tarantino Movie

Source: CBR

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August 20, 2021 at 12:08AM

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