Keiichirō Akagi (赤木 圭一郎, Akagi Keiichirō), born Chikahiro Akatsuka (赤塚 親弘, Akatsuka Chikahiro) was a Japanese actor. Akagi appeared in over 26 films in his short three-year career. Kenju burai-chō series[1] and The Call of the Foghorn are Akagi's notable films.[1]
Keiichirō Akagi | |
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Born | Chikahiro Akatsuka (赤塚 親弘) (1939-05-08)May 8, 1939 Azabu Kōgai-chō, Azabu District, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan |
Died | February 21, 1961(1961-02-21) (aged 21) Komae, Kitatama District, Tokyo, Japan |
Other names | The Third Man Tony Cool Guy Japanese James Dean |
Occupation | Actor, singer |
Years active | 1958-61 |
In 1958, he joined the Nikkatsu company. He landed the lead role for the first time in 1959 film Age of Nudity directed by Seijun Suzuki.[2] In 1960, Akagi won Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year.[3][4][5] Akagi was one of the box office hitter of Nikkatsu company alongside Yujiro Ishihara and Akira Kobayashi.[6][7][8] At around 12:20 PM on February 14, 1961, during a lunch break while shooting Gekiryū ni Ikiru Otoko, where he served as a replacement for injured Yūjirō Ishihara, Akagi was driving a go-cart brought by a salesman in the Nikkatsu studio but spun out of control and crashed into a steel door of a large tool warehouse at a speed of more than 60 km/h. He regained consciousness for a time, but on February 20 he fell into a coma again and died at 7:50 AM on February 21 of a subdural hematoma associated with a fracture of the cracked frontal bone, at the young age of 21.[8]
At the time, some of his family conceded to his funeral in the Soto Zen religion at the Dai-enji Temple in Suginami, Tokyo. Later on, his cremated ashes were moved to the Head Temple Taisekiji in Fujinomiya.
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