Japanese voice actor, narrator, and actor
Kei Tomiyama |
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| Born | 冨山 邦親 (Kunichika Tomiyama)
(1938-10-31)October 31, 1938
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| Died | September 25, 1995(1995-09-25) (aged 56)
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| Years active | 1960–1995 |
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| Agent | Production Baobab |
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Kunichika Tomiyama (冨山 邦親, Tomiyama Kunichika, October 31, 1938 – September 25, 1995), better known by his stage name Kei Tomiyama (富山 敬, Tomiyama Kei), was a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator born in Anshan, Manchukuo. He was affiliated with Aoni Production and Production Baobab.
Tomiyama is best known for his roles in Tiger Mask (Naoto Date/Tiger Mask), Space Battleship Yamato (Susumu Kodai), UFO Robo Grendizer (Duke Fleed/Daisuke Umon), the Time Bokan series (Narrator), GeGeGe no Kitarō 3rd Series (Nezumi-Otoko), Chibi Maruko-chan (Tomozō Sakura, Shintarō Honami), and Legend of the Galactic Heroes (Yang Wen-li).
Life
Tomiyama was born on October 13, 1938, in Anshan, Fengtian, Manchukuo (in modern-day China).[1][2] He dropped out of Nihon University's art department. His first few roles were secondary characters in shows such as Gigantor (1963), Prince Planet (1965), Astro Boy (1965), Oraa Guzura Dado (1967), Speed Racer (1967), Ōgon Bat (1967), Princess Knight (1967), Animal 1 (1968), and Dokachin the Primitive Boy (1968). He was affiliated with multiple talent agencies during his career, including Aoni Production[3] and Production Baobab.[4]
His first starring role was as Sabu in Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae in 1968.[5] He became a popular voice actor with his distinctively tender voice, portraying numerous roles during his career, ranging from heroic to comedic, and young to old.[5]
At 9:07 am on September 25, 1995, Tomiyama suddenly died of pancreatic cancer in Shinjuku, Tokyo at the age of 56.[1][2][6] In 2007, he was posthumously awarded the Special Achievement Award at the first Seiyu Awards.[7]
Successors
After Tomiyama's death, numerous voice actors took over his ongoing roles.
In the Harlock Saga, in addition to replacing Tomiyama as Tochiro, Kōichi Yamadera also supplied the voice of Captain Harlock which up to that point was done by Makio Inoue.
