Ichirō Sugai (菅井一郎, Sugai Ichirō, 25 July 1907 – 11 August 1973) was a Japanese actor and film director[1] who appeared in more than 300 films in his 45 years spanning career,[2][3] working with directors such as Kaneto Shindō, Kenji Mizoguchi and Kōzaburō Yoshimura.[1]
Biography
Sugai was born in Rukahara (now Higashiyama Ward), Kyoto.[1][3] He left junior high school prematurely and entered the Kyoto section of the Nikkatsu film company in 1925.[1] In the 1930s, he first switched to Shinkō Kinema before founding the actors group Dai-ichi kyōdan and becoming a freelance actor in 1939.[1] Notable films of this era include Kenji Mizoguchi's The Water Magician (1933) and The Straits of Love and Hate (1937).[1] After World War II, Sugai became a sought after supporting actor.[1] In addition to numerous films by directors Shindō, Mizoguchi and Yoshimura, he appeared in films by Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Tadashi Imai, Shōhei Imamura and Yasujirō Ozu.[2]
Sugai directed two films himself, Dorodarake no seishun (1954) and Furanki no uchūjin (1957).[1][2]
