Hiroki Matsukata

Career

As a young man, he aspired to be a singer, but turned to acting, making his debut while still in high school. His first film was 1960's Jūnanasai no Gyakushū: Bōryoku o Buttsubuse (十七歳の逆襲・暴力をぶっ潰せ) for Tōei, where his father worked. He specialized in romantic leads in jidaigeki and yakuza films. But he soon switched to modern yakuza for films such as Bakuto (1964) and Showa Zankyoden (1965), and starred in Kinji Fukasaku's Blackmail Is My Life (1968).

In 1969 he switched to Daiei as a replacement for Ichikawa Raizo VIII, starring in many films. On returning to Tōei he would appear in many more films by Fukasaku in the following decade, including three installments in the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series, Cops vs. Thugs (1975), Hokuriku Proxy War (1977), The Doberman Cop (1977), Shogun's Samurai (1978) and The Fall of Ako Castle (1978). Starring opposite Bunta Sugawara in the first four and opposite Sonny Chiba in the last four.

He starred in both the original 1984 Shura no Mure and the 2002 remake. In addition, he has appeared in numerous V-Cinema titles, including what was advertised as Toei's "last yakuza movie", The Man Who Shot the Don (1994). In the 1990s he was a regular on Takeshi Kitano's Genki Ga Deru TV comedy show.

His television credits include Ōedo Sōsamō (1979 to 1984), the title role in Meibugyō Tōyama no Kin-san (1988–1998), the lead character Yaguchi Mansaku in Hadaka no Deka, and one of the central characters in Hotel. He played Ōishi Kuranosuke in the 1994 TBS Daichūshingura. Matsukata also appeared as a guest voice actor in the NHK anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple.

Matsukata was hospitalized for a possible brain tumor on February 23, 2016. He subsequently cancelled several entertainment appearances. On March 2, it was announced that Matsukata had been diagnosed with brain lymphoma. On January 21, 2017, Hiroki Matsukata died due to complications from his lymphoma at 11:26 a.m., at the age of 74.

Television

Video games