Sonny Chiba (born January 23, 1939 - August 19, 2021), also known as Shin'ichi Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Born in Fukuoka, Chiba played a variety of sports in high school, including baseball and volleyball. He also practiced gymnastics and participated at the National Sports Festival of Japan in his third year. When he was a university student, he learned martial arts, earning a black belt in Kyokushin Karate in 1965 and later receiving a fourth degree in 1984.
Chiba's career began in the 1960s, when he starred in two tokusatsu superhero shows. In his first role, he replaced Susumu Wajima as the main character Kōtarō Ran/Seven Color Mask in Seven Color Mask (Nana-iro Kamen) in the second half of the series. However, his breakthrough role was in the 1974 film The Street Fighter. Before retiring, Chiba had also appeared in a number of English language American films, including Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Fast & Furious 3: Tokyo Drift (2006).
Chiba died of COVID-19 complications at the hospital in Tokyo on 19 August 2021, at the age of 82.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Sonny Chiba, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Recent movies
| # | Name | Character | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shakespeare In Tokyo (2018) | Calligrapher | - |
| 2 | Sushi Girl (2012) | Sushi Chef | 5.5 |
| 3 | Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2011) | Hattori Hanzo | 9.4 |
| 4 | The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) | Uncle Kamata | 6.2 |
| 5 | Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) | Hattori Hanzo | 8 |
| 6 | Survive Style 5+ (2004) | Azama | 9 |
| 7 | Explosive City (2004) | Otosan | 7 |
| 8 | Battle Royale II: Requiem (2003) | Makio Mimura | 5.6 |
| 9 | Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) | Hattori Hanzo | 8.1 |
| 10 | Deadly Outlaw: Rekka (2002) | Yasunori Hijikata | - |
| 11 | The Storm Riders (1998) | Lord Conqueror | 7 |
| 12 | Immortal Combat (1994) | Jiro 'J.J.' Jintani | - |
| 13 | Iron Eagle III (1992) | Horikoshi | 5 |
| 14 | Ninja Wars (1982) | Shinzaemon Yagyu | 6 |
| 15 | Fall Guy (1982) | - | 5 |
| 16 | Samurai Reincarnation (1981) | Jubei Yagyu | 5 |
| 17 | Virus (1980) | Dr. Yamauchi | 6 |
| 18 | Shogun's Ninja (1980) | Shiranui Shogen | 6 |
| 19 | Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Complete Saga (1980) | Katsutoshi Otomo | - |
| 20 | Hunter in the Dark (1979) | Samon Shimoguni | 7 |
| 21 | The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (1979) | Mitsuhiko Sakurai | - |
| 22 | G.I. Samurai (1979) | Director / Writer | 3 |
| 23 | Message from Space (1978) | Prince Hans | 8 |
| 24 | The Fall of Ako Castle (1978) | Fuwa Kazuemon | 5 |
| 25 | Shogun's Samurai (1978) | Jûbê Yagyû | 6.5 |
| 26 | Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon (1977) | Duke Togo (Golgo 13) | 7 |
| 27 | Doberman Cop (1977) | Joji Kano | 6 |
| 28 | Wolf Guy (1975) | Akira Inugami | 8 |
| 29 | Return of the Street Fighter (1974) | Takuma Tsurugi | 7 |
| 30 | The Street Fighter's Last Revenge (1974) | Takuma Tsurguri | 7 |
| 31 | The Street Fighter (1974) | Takuma Tsurugi | 10 |
| 32 | Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973) | Katsutoshi Otomo | 7 |
| 33 | Terror Beneath the Sea (1966) | Ken Abe | 5 |
| 34 | Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961) | Tachibana - Scientist / Space Chief | 1 |
