Toshiro Mifune

was a Japanese actor and producer. The recipient of numerous awards and accolades over a lengthy career, he is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time. A leading figure in the Japanese film industry, he often played hypermasculine characters and was noted for his physical presence and commanding screen presence.

Although he amassed more than 180 screen credits, Mifune is best known for his 16 collaborations with director Akira Kurosawa. These collaborations included Kurosawa's critically acclaimed ''jidaigeki'' films such as ''Rashomon'' (1950), for which Mifune won the San Marco Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, ''Seven Samurai'' (1954), ''Throne of Blood'' (1957), ''The Hidden Fortress'' (1958), and ''Yojimbo'' (1961), for which Mifune won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and was recognised at the Blue Ribbon Awards as Best Actor. He also portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in Hiroshi Inagaki's ''Samurai Trilogy'' (1954–1956), Lord Toranaga in the NBC television miniseries ''Shōgun'', and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in three different films. }}

In 1962, he established ''Mifune Productions'', achieving success with large-scale works including ''The Sands of Kurobe'' (1968) and ''Samurai Banners'' (1969). He starred in his directorial debut film ''Goju Man-nin no Isan'' (1963). Following his performance in the 1965 film ''Red Beard'', which won him the Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for a second time, Mifune turned to roles abroad. He starred in films such as ''Ánimas Trujano'' (1962), for which he won another Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor, ''Grand Prix'' (1966), which was his Hollywood debut, ''You Only Live Twice'' (1967), ''Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Red Sun'' (1971), ''Paper Tiger'' (1975), ''Midway'' (1976), and Steven Spielberg's ''1941'' (1979).

Mifune died of organ failure on December 24, 1997. In 1999, he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame. He is the subject of the featured-length documentary, ''Mifune: The Last Samurai'' (2015), about his life and his films. In 2016, his name was inscribed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Provided by Wikipedia