Ken Ogata 緒形拳

緒形拳さん死去　７１歳　銀幕・ＴＶ・舞台…幅広く活躍

2008年10月7日10時3分

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ソーシャルブックマーク

緒形拳さん

　映画「楢山節考」「復讐（ふくしゅう）するは我にあり」をはじめ、テレビ、舞台で活躍、ヒーローから極悪人まで幅広い演技をみせた俳優の緒形拳（おが た・けん、本名緒形明伸〈あきのぶ〉）さんが５日、死去した。関係者によると、病死だという。７１歳だった。葬儀は親族のみで行う。

　東京生まれ。５８年に辰巳柳太郎にあこがれて新国劇に入り、６０年に舞台「遠い一つの道」の主役に抜擢（ばってき）され、その映画化で銀幕デ ビューも果たした。６５年、ＮＨＫ大河ドラマ「太閤記」の主役・豊臣秀吉を演じる一方、テレビドラマ「必殺仕掛人」（７２年）では暗殺者の梅安を演じ、す ごみのある演技で人気を集めた。

　映画「鬼畜」（７８年）、カンヌ国際映画祭グランプリに輝いた今村昌平監督「楢山節考」（８３年）、「火宅の人」（８６年）などに主演、日本アカ デミー賞最優秀主演男優賞も３回受賞した。第３０回モントリオール世界映画祭グランプリを受賞した奥田瑛二監督「長い散歩」（０６年）でも主演した。

　また舞台出演にも熱心で、ベケット作「ゴドーを待ちながら」や、「信濃の一茶」、一人芝居「白野―シラノ―」などに出演した。００年、紫綬褒章を受けた。

　先月３０日には、倉本聰さん脚本のフジテレビ系ドラマ「風のガーデン」の制作発表会見に出席。同日付の本人ブログにも「是非是非ご覧下さい」と書 き込んでいたが、その後、体調が急変したという。「風のガーデン」は９日に放送開始。生死、家族愛をみつめる作品で、最後の出演作となった。

　長男の幹太（かんた）さん、次男の直人（なおと）さんも俳優。

Gentle soul of a talented actor fades to black

2008/10/11

Moments before he quietly breathed his last on Oct. 5, actor Ken Ogata apparently gazed off into space like a Kabuki actor. Masahiko Tsugawa, a fellow actor and a longtime friend who was at Ogata's deathbed, recalled: "He made such an enviably cool exit, it made me truly want to go like him when my time comes."

Tsugawa told reporters he rushed to the hospital when he heard Ogata was dying. On his arrival, the 71-year-old actor sat up in bed to chat. After talking shop for a while, Ogata said to Tsugawa, "When I get better, let's go eat unagi (eel)--you know, the plain-broiled kind."

What amazes me about this episode is that it was Ogata, not Tsugawa, who tried to cheer up his friend by proposing a dinner date.

Ogata's final moments were defined by a blend of subtle humor and the sort of "substance" one sees only in extraordinary people.

Ogata was unparalleled in his ability to portray embarrassment, melancholy and insanity. But his talent was most obvious when he delved into the shadowy depths of human emotion, as he did in "Narayama Bushiko" (The Ballad of Narayama, 1983).

Sumiko Sakamoto portrayed an aged woman whose son--played by Ogata--carried her on his strong back into the mountains where, in keeping with an old custom, he would abandon her to die.

She said of Ogata: "I was truly awed that he didn't have to rely on any acting technique. He simply became the very character he was playing. In my heart, he is still my son."

Ogata swore his family to secrecy concerning his liver cancer. His last acting appearance was in "Kaze no Garden" (Garden of winds), a serial TV drama. He soldiered on through six months on the set by sticking to a healthy diet of genmai (brown rice).

The script, by So Kuramoto, dealt squarely with the meaning of life. Ogata was cast in the role of a doctor who made house calls, and many of his lines had to do with death and dying. He must have played this part with his entire body and soul. He died five days after the promotional press conference for the TV program.

Ogata's favorite hobby was calligraphy, and his simple style revealed his warm heart. Kunio Koike, a 67-year-old resident of Komae in western Tokyo who used to exchange e-tegami (illustrated postcards) with Ogata, once received a New Year's greeting card inscribed with the self-effacing word dekunobo (blockhead) in red ink. Another card from Ogata bore the message, "The ox ambles slowly."

Just like his calligraphic style, Ogata lived out his acting career without any pretense concerning his own, easy-going pace of life.

If I can borrow Sakamoto's words of fond recollection, Ogata revealed his true self in every role he played.

At the end, he faded completely in the autumn of his life, and I will always associate the way he looked from the back and his trademark white hair with a gentle, kindly soul.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 10(IHT/Asahi: October 11,2008)