Ken Ogata

Born: July 20, 1937 — Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

Ken Ogata (緒形 拳 Ogata Ken, 20 July 1937-5 October 2008) was a Japanese actor. Ogata was born in Tokyo, Japan. Ogata is well known for his roles in Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and Shohei Imamura's The Ballad of Narayama. He won the award for best actor at the 26th Blue Ribbon Awards for Okinawan Boys. In television, his starring role as Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1965 NHK Taiga drama Taikōki catapulted him to fame. Ken went on to many prominent roles in subsequent programs. The following year, he portrayed Benkei in Minamoto no Yoshitsune...