Kamatari Fujiwara

Japanese actor Kamatari Fujiwara was not the sort of performer who'd make the fan magazines or gossip columns, but still he enjoyed a stellar reputation among international art-film enthusiasts. Fujiwara was a member of director Akira Kurosawa's stock company, first appearing in this capacity as the assistant to dying bureaucrat Takashi Shimura in Ikiru (1952). The actor also appeared in supporting roles in such classics as The Seven Samurai, (1956), Yojimbo (1961) and Red Beard (1965). In most of his films, the very able Kamatari Fujiwara tended to be overshadowed by more charismatic actors like Shimura and Toshiro Mifune, but he was always dedicated and unwaveringly professional. One American admirer of his work, director Arthur Penn, cast Fujiwara as the Artist in the Chicago-filmed Warren Beatty vehicle Mickey One (1965).

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide