View source for Toshiro Mifune

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{{quote|"All you need is one look at Toshiro Mifune to know that he's fucking serious. He's coarse, he's gruff, he's confident, he doesn't take any fucking shit from anyone and he's got the sort of commanding presence that forces you to respect the fact that he could kick your ass fifteen ways from Thursday afternooon and not even break a sweat."|[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/mifune.html Badass of the Week]'s entry on Toshiro Mifune}}

{{quote|"I am proud of nothing I have done other than with him."|Mifune on his work with his then-estranged friend [[Akira Kurosawa]]}}

Toshiro Mifune was a prolific Japanese actor best known for his numerous collaborations with [[Akira Kurosawa]] (e.g ''[[Rashomon]]'', ''[[Seven Samurai]]'', ''[[Throne of Blood (Film)|Throne of Blood]]'', ''[[The Hidden Fortress]]'', ''[[Yojimbo]]'', ''[[Sanjuro]]'' and every other movie Kurosawa made between 1948 and 1965 with the exception of ''[[Ikiru]]'') as well as many other leading roles. Mifune was to [[Jidai Geki]] what [[Clint Eastwood]] is to [[The Western]] -- if there was a [[Badass]] [[Samurai]] character to be played in the 1950s or early 1960s, chances are he was on the short list for it. In particular, his gruff, calculating [[Ronin]] character from ''Yojimbo'' was to be the model for Eastwood's "[[Dollars Trilogy|Man with No Name]]" and numerous other [[Anti-Hero|antiheroes]].

Mifune and Kurosawa had a falling out in the late 1960s after the filming of ''Red Beard'', and after that Mifune began popping up occasionally in Western film productions such as ''Grand Prix'' and ''[[Enemy Mine|Hell in the Pacific]]''. This eventually culminated in Mifune appearing in the American miniseries ''[[Shogun]]'' (as the resident [[Magnificent Bastard]], Toranaga), resulting in acclaim stateside but criticism in Japan due to the [[Did Not Do the Research|lack of historical accuracy]]. If [[George Lucas]] would have had his way instead of being told by [[Executive Meddling|higher ups to hire a well-known (to Western audiences) actor for the role]], Mifune would have [[What Could Have Been|played Obi-Wan Kenobi]] in ''[[A New Hope|Star Wars]]''.<ref>The [[Soul Series]]' Mitsurugi, an Expy of Mifune, ''was'' Kenobi. Or at least, his Japanese voice was.</ref>

In between 1993 and 1997, Kurosawa and Mifune had a few meetings with one another at funerals and award ceremonies, most notably at the 1993 funeral of their mutual friend, ''[[Godzilla]]'' director Ishiro Honda. It seemed that their relationship had begun to repair itself. Rumor had it that they would collaborate once more, but Mifune died in 1997 and Kurosawa a year after him. It's said that Mifune actually succumbed to [[Death By Despair]]: his health had been really bad after a stress-triggered heart attack, but his ex-wife Sachiko Yoshimine was helping him overcome it, and when she suddenly died of cancer his physical and mental state state took a nosedive and he simply lost the will to live.

According to legend, Mifune's career was an accident. Toshiro Mifune needed work, and a friend told him that the studio was hiring maintenance men. When he got there, he stepped into the wrong line and wound up at auditions.

And it should be noted Mifune was a devout Methodist. [[Real Men Love Jesus]], indeed.

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[[Category:Cult Actor]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Toshiro Mifune]]