Yūsaku Matsuda
An image from The Family Game, one of the productions that also features Yūsaku Matsuda.
Yūsaku Matsuda

Yūsaku Matsuda

September 21, 1949 — Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan

Yūsaku Matsuda was a Japanese actor. He was born in Shimonoseki, to a Japanese father and a Zainichi Korean mother. He became an actor when he was 23 as a rookie police officer for the 1970s Japanese TV detective drama called Taiyō ni hoero! Apart from this role, his other defining role on television was in Tantei monogatari. He featured in many other TV shows and movies. He won the award for best actor at the 8th Hochi Film Award for Detective Story and The Family Game. He specialized in physical action movies. The 1989 movie Black Rain — directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia— opened the door for Matsuda as an international actor. However, shortly after he made this movie, he died due to bladder cancer. He was survived by his second wife and three young children.

Black Rain

Black Rain

1989

Kagero-za

Kagero-za

1981

The Family Game

The Family Game

1983

And Then

And Then

1985

Proof of the Man

Proof of the Man

1977

The Beast to Die

The Beast to Die

1980

The Most Dangerous Game

The Most Dangerous Game

1978

The Killing Game

The Killing Game

1978