Kumeko Urabe
Known For
Acting
Born
1902-10-05 in Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Died
1989-10-26
Biography
Kumeko Urabe (Japanese: 浦辺粂子), born Kimura Kume ((木村 くめ)), (October 5, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was a Japanese movie actress, one of the first in the country. She worked on stage and in film and television. Urabe was born in a rural part of the Shizuoka Prefecture. She lived in several homes while growing up, as she relocated with her father, a Buddhist priest, among the temples to which he was assigned. Urabe completed her education in Numazu, and left school in 1919 to join a theatre company, touring under various stage names as an actor and dancer. In 1923, Urabe auditioned at the film studio Nikkatsu, and adopted the name Kumeko Urabe, by which she was known for the rest of her life. She appeared in her first film the following year, and continued to act until 1987. She worked with such directors as Kenji Mizoguchi and Mikio Naruse, and performed in over 320 films, including Ikiru, Older Brother, Younger Sister, Portrait of Madame Yuki, She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum, and Street of Shame. She also starred in television dramas, including thirteen episodes of Toshiba Sunday Theatre between 1958 and 1980. In the following decade, she carved a niche as a Grandma idol, until her death in 1989.
Most Known For
Ikiru
as Tatsu Watanabe
White Runway
Hachiko
as Tobacco Shop Owner
Snow Country
Early Spring
as Shige Kitagawa
Twenty-Four Eyes
as Otoko Sensei no Tsuma
Stakeout
as Proprietress of the Hotel Hizen-ya
Floating Weeds
as Shige
Street of Shame
as Otane
Yearning
as Bar Madam
Tokyo Twilight
as Komatsu's Mistress
Stray Dog
Lonely Heart
as Fuki Inoue
Moment of Terror
as Hisako Kanematsu
Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky
as Shige, Ryoichi's stepmother
Where Chimneys Are Seen
as Kayo Nojima
She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
as Grandmother
Gateway to Glory
Oka wa hanazakari
