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Best known for her role of Miss Namikawa in Invasion
of Astro-Monster (1965). Kumi Mizuno is,
indisputably, Toho's most popular actress for their science fiction films. Mizuno
was born in 1937 with the birth name Maya Igarashi.
By the time she started working for Toho on A
Bridge for Us Alone (1958), her second movie,
her name had changed to Kumi Mizuno. In the late
50's and early 60's Mizuno's career was booming,
and she quickly became a favorite of director Ishiro
Honda. Mizuno was often paired with Nick Adams,
whenever he did a film for Toho; consequently,
rumors of a romance between the two were common
occurrence until Mizuno denied it during a interview
in 1996. Despite the huge number of films she
did early on in her career, Mizuno is best known
for her Sci-fi roles in the two Godzilla films
and the two Frankenstein films done by Toho in
the mid 60's.
Mizuno became such a cult figure amongst
the kaiju fandom that Toho brought her back in
2002 to play a role in Godzilla
Against Mechagodzilla. She returned to the franchise again in time for the 50th Anniversary Godzilla film as well: Godzilla:
Final Wars (2004). |
