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Best remembered for his long standing
portrayal of detective Kosuke Kindaichi in the
1970's, and being asked to reprise that role
in 2006's Murder of the Inugami Clan, Koji Ishizaka, born Muto Heikichi,
started his journey toward cinema fresh out of
college with a stint as part of the Shiki Theater
Company. By 1965, Ishizaka. at the age of 24,
begun his film career at Toei. The following
year, the actor made his debut at Toho with the
1966 movie Young
Girls Are Everywhere. After the film, and
a brief stint with Tokyo Eiga, Ishizaka became
exclusive through contract to Shochiku studios
up until 1973. Afterwards, the actor had trouble
breaking back into cinema.
Ishizaka's luck was
about to turn around, though, when Kon Ichikawa
cast him as the famous detective Kosuke Kindaichi
in the 1976 production of The
Inugamis. A hit at the box office,
Toho brought on director Ichikawa to create another
film with the character the following year called Lullaby
to Kill (1977), to which Ishizaka was
selected to reprise the role. Proving popular
with audiences, Toho asked the pair to create
three more films around the character, the last
of which was House
of Hanging (1979). It was from this experience
that the actor would become a quick favorite
of director Ichikawa, and Ishizaka would appear
exclusively in his films for the six year period
from 1983 to 1988, with the only exceptions being The
Return of Godzilla (1984) and Oración (1988).
Other names: Muto Heikichi (武藤兵吉) |
