Toshiro Mifune

Toshiro Mifune was born in 1920 in Qingdao, China, to Japanese parents, and served in the Japanese military during the Second World War before entering the film industry almost by chance in the postwar years. He soon began a celebrated collaboration with director Akira Kurosawa that would define both their careers and bring Japanese cinema to the attention of the world.

Across sixteen films with Kurosawa, Mifune displayed extraordinary physical power and emotional range. He starred in the landmark Rashomon, which won acclaim abroad, and in the epic Seven Samurai, as well as Yojimbo and Throne of Blood. His portrayals of restless warriors and masterless samurai, by turns explosive and subtle, made him an international star and influenced filmmakers far beyond Japan.

Mifune also worked in international productions and founded his own production company. His partnership with Kurosawa eventually ended, but his stature endured. He continued acting in film and television until illness slowed him, and he died in 1997. He is remembered as a towering figure of world cinema, the definitive screen samurai of the twentieth century.