Biography
Japanese actor Kamatari Fujiwara was not the sort of performer who'd make the fan magazines or gossip columns, but still he enjoyed a stellar reputation among international art-film enthusiasts. Fujiwara was a member of director
Akira Kurosawa's stock company, first appearing in this capacity as the assistant to dying bureaucrat
Takashi Shimura in
Ikiru (1952). The actor also appeared in supporting roles in such classics as The Seven Samurai, (1956),
Yojimbo (1961) and
Red Beard (1965). In most of his films, the very able Kamatari Fujiwara tended to be overshadowed by more charismatic actors like Shimura and
Toshiro Mifune, but he was always dedicated and unwaveringly professional. One American admirer of his work, director
Arthur Penn, cast Fujiwara as the Artist in the Chicago-filmed
Warren Beatty vehicle
Mickey One (1965). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide