Tetsuya Watari
渡 哲也
Watari in 1965
Born
Michihiko Watase (渡瀬 道彦)[1]

(1941-12-28)December 28, 1941[1]
Awaji, Hyōgo, Japan[1]
DiedAugust 10, 2020(2020-08-10) (aged 78)[2][3]
Tokyo, Japan[2]
OccupationActor
Years active1964–2020
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)

Tetsuya Watari (渡 哲也, Watari Tetsuya) born Michihiko Watase (渡瀬 道彦, Watase Michihiko) (December 28, 1941 – August 10, 2020)[2][3] was a Japanese film, stage, and television actor.

Life

He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Watari belonged to the karate club at university.[4] He made his screen debut in 1964, in Isamu Kosugi's Abare Kishidō, and received one of the Elan d'or Awards.[5][1] At Nikkatsu, Watari appeared in such films as Tokyo Drifter and the Outlaw series.[5]

Watari was mentored at Nikkatsu by Yujiro Ishihara. When Nikkatsu shifted to focusing on Roman Porno films in the early seventies, Watari was one of many actors who left the studio.[6]

Watari was due to play the main role in Kinji Fukasaku’s film Battles Without Honor and Humanity, but because of illness he was not able to appear.[7][8] In 1974, he was forced to step down from the lead role of Katsu Kaishū in the Taiga drama Katsu Kaishū on NHK, again because of illness, after appearing in only nine episodes.[9] In 1976, Watari won best actor of Blue Ribbon Award for his role in Kinji Fukasaku`s film Yakuza Graveyard.[5]

In Japan, Watari is probably still best known for his role as Keisuke Daiomon in the detective series "Seibu Keisatsu" on TV Asahi. He also appeared in the popular detective drama "Taiyō ni Hoero!" as a replacement for Yujiro Ishihara in 1986.[10]

Watari became the president of Ishihara Promotion after Yujiro's death in 1987[11] but in 2011 he resigned due to his declining health.[5]

On June 10, 2015 he was hospitalised after suffering a heart attack and underwent surgery. Seven days later it was announced that he was in rehabilitation and would be discharged from hospital in about a month.

He had a younger brother, Tsunehiko Watase, who was also an actor.[12] As a singer, Watari is known for his hit song "Kuchinashi no Hana" [13] and he appeared in the Kōhaku Uta Gassen in 1974 and 1993.

He died of pneumonia on August 10, 2020, at the age of 78.[14]

Selected filmography

Films

Year Title Role Director Other notes
1965 Abare Kishidō (あばれ騎士道) Tetsuya Isamu Kosugi Lead role
Nakaseruze Akinori Matsuo
1966 Tokyo Drifter Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo Seijun Suzuki Lead role
Tokyo Drifter 2: The Sea is Bright Red as the Color of Love Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo Kenjirō Morinaga Lead role
The Hearth of Hiroshima Koreyoshi Kurahara Lead role
1967 Kurenai no Nagareboshi Toshio Masuda Lead role
1968 Outlaw: Gangster VIP Gorō Fujikawa Toshio Masuda Lead role
Moeru Tairiku Keiichi Isomura Shōgorō Nishimura Lead role
Higashi Shinakai Naoyuki Tadahiki Isomi
1969 The Wild Sea Yōji Kitami Tokujirō Yamazaki Lead Role
Daikanbu Nagurikomi Tetsu Toshio Masuda Lead role
Savage Wolf Pack Asai Tetsuya Yasuharu Hasebe Lead Role
1970 Shinjuku outlaw: Step On the Gas Yuji Nishigami (Shinigami) Toshiya Fujita Lead role
Fuji sanchō Tetsutaro Murano
1971 Kantō Exile Keiichi Ozawa Lead role
1973 Gokiburi Keiji Detective Narugami Tsugunobu Kotani Lead role
Za Gokiburi Detective Narugami Tsugunobu Kotani Lead role
Ningen Kakumei Kumichō Shimatani Toshio Masuda
1975 Graveyard of Honor Rikio Ishikawa Kinji Fukasaku Lead role
1976 Yakuza Graveyard Detective Kuroiwa Kinji Fukasaku Lead role
1986 Tokei – Adieu l'hiver Sō Kuramoto Special appearance
1993 Kinchan no Cinema Jack "Minato" Kinichi Hagimoto
1996 Waga Kokoro no Ginga Tetsudō Miyazawa Kenji Monogatari Seijirō Kazuki Ōmori
1997 Yūkai Inspector Tsunami Takao Okawara Lead role
1998 Diary of Early Winter Shower Shinichiro Sawai Lead role
2000 Nagasaki Burabura bushi Gakusha (Koga, Jûjirô) Yukio Fukamachi Lead role
2001 Brother Jinseikai Kumichō Takeshi Kitano
2002 Shura no Mure[15] Old Hiroyuki Inahara Hiroyuki Tsuji
2004 Lady Joker Seizo Monoi Hideyuki Hirayama Lead role
2005 Yamato Vice-Admiral Seiichi Itō Junya Sato

Television

Year Title Role Other notes
1971 Daichūshingura Horibe Yasubei
1974 Katsu Kaishū Katsu Kaishū Lead role, Taiga drama
1976–79 Daitokai Series Raisuke Kuroiwa Lead role
1978 Haguregumo Kumo Lead role
1979–84 Seibu Keisatsu Keisuke Daimon Lead role
1986 Taiyō ni Hoero! Hyōgo Tachibana
1996 Hideyoshi Oda Nobunaga Taiga drama
1998 Shinsengumi Keppūroku Isami Kondō Lead role
2004 Seibu Keisatsu Special Keisuke Daimon
2005 Yoshitsune Taira no Kiyomori Taiga drama
2009–2011 Saka no Ue no Kumo Tōgō Heihachirō
2013 35-sai no Koukousei Yukinobu Asada

Video games

Year Title Role Other notes
2005 Ryū ga Gotoku Shintaro Kazama
2006 Ryū ga Gotoku 2 Shintaro Kazama
2009 Ryū ga Gotoku 3 Jōji Kazama
2015 Ryū ga Gotoku 0: Chikai no Basho Shintaro Kazama
2016 Ryū ga Gotoku: Kiwami Shintaro Kazama
2017 Ryū ga Gotoku: Kiwami 2 Shintaro Kazama

Honours

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Tetsuya Watari official profile" (in Japanese). Ishihara Promotion. Archived from the original on December 28, 2008. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c "俳優 渡哲也さんが死去 78歳 肺炎のため". NHKニュース (in Japanese). 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  3. ^ a b "俳優の渡哲也さんが死去 肺炎、78歳、家族葬…故人の遺志によりお別れ会なし". デイリースポーツ (in Japanese). 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  4. ^ "【評伝】みんな憧れた「団長」大門刑事、昭和の美学貫いた人生". Sanspo. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d "Tetsuya Watari biography". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  6. ^ Mes, Tom, Graveyard of Honor DVD booklet, 2004, Home Vision Entertainment. Retrieved 2014-08-29
  7. ^ 杉作J太郎、植地毅「日下部五朗インタビュー　インタビュアー・高平哲郎」『仁義なき戦い 浪漫アルバム』徳間書店、1998 p.128-134 ISBN 978-4198608460
  8. ^ 渡哲也インタビュー　高平哲郎」『渡哲也 さすらいの詩』芳賀書店〈シネアルバム(67)〉、1978 P.153-168 ISBN 4-8261-0067-1
  9. ^ "74年勝海舟は渡哲也から松方弘樹／大河ドラマ代役". Nikkan sports. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  10. ^ "太陽にほえろ! 1986" (in Japanese). Amazon. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  11. ^ "Ishihara Promotion company profile" (in Japanese). Ishihara Promotion. Archived from the original on September 3, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  12. ^ "Office Kitano: Brother". Office Kitano. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  13. ^ "【1974年２月】くちなしの花／渡哲也 本人不在も大ヒット 紅白に出場したワケ" (in Japanese). スポニチ. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  14. ^ "渡哲也さん、１０日に肺炎で死去していた". SANSPO.COM（サンスポ） (in Japanese). 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  15. ^ 修羅の群れ〈2001年〉 (in Japanese). PIA Corporation. Retrieved January 27, 2015.

External links


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