Nakadai began his career as a theatre actor and following his screen debut — a cameo in Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 movie Seven Samurai — he declined to sign an exclusive contract with a film studio.
That gave Nakadai the freedom to take on different roles and he appeared in samurai epics, dramas, thrillers and sci-fi films.
His breakthrough role came when he played the lead in Masaki Kobayashi’s trilogy The Human Condition (1959–61), playing a pacifist soldier in World War 2-era Japan.
Perhaps Nakadai’s most famous role came in 1985 with Kurosawa’s final film, Ran, a Japanese retelling of King Lear.
His portrayal of ageing warlord Hidetora Ichimonji was central to the film’s success.
In 2015 Nakadai was awarded the Order of Culture, the highest honour bestowed upon Japan’s artists and scientists.
Tatsuya Nakadai died November 8, aged 92. — Agencies/Allied Media
