Kumeko Urabe
Born
October 5, 1902
Died
October 26, 1989 (87 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Kumeko Urabe (Japanese: 浦辺粂子), born Kimura Kume ((木村 くめ)), (October 5, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was a Japanese movie actress, one of the first in the country. She worked on stage and in film and television. Urabe was born in a rural part of the Shizuoka Prefecture. She lived in several homes while growing up, as she relocated with her father, a Buddhist priest, among the temples to which he was assigned. Urabe completed her education in Numazu, and left school in 1919 to join a theatre company, touring under various stage names as an actor and dancer.
In 1923, Urabe auditioned at the film studio Nikkatsu, and adopted the name Kumeko Urabe, by which she was known for the rest of her life. She appeared in her first film the following year, and continued to act until 1987. She worked with such directors as Kenji Mizoguchi and Mikio Naruse, and performed in over 320 films, including Ikiru, Older Brother, Younger Sister, Portrait of Madame Yuki, She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum, and Street of Shame. She also starred in television dramas, including thirteen episodes of Toshiba Sunday Theatre between 1958 and 1980. In the following decade, she carved a niche as a Grandma idol, until her death in 1989.
Hachiko
Tabacco Shop Owner
1987
Miss Lonely
Fuki Inoue
1985
The Cold-Hearted Sea
1984
Before Spring
Toyo
1980
Tora-san's Pure Love
1976
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
1975
White Runway
(26 episodes)
1974
Stray Dog
1973
Onna Ikitemasu: Sakariba Wataridori
Tsue
1972
Kininaru Yomesan
(2 episodes)
1971
The Secret Ceremony
1971
Adults Games
1971
喜劇 右向けェ左！
1970
The Final Gamble
1970
The Bad Guy Blues
1969
Gateway to Glory
1969
Girl in College
1969
I Sell My Husband
1968
Two in the Shadow
1967
Eyes, the Sea and a Ball
1967
Yanagase Blues
Kane Sasagawa
1967
Flower Cards Chivalry
1967
Game of Chance
Sugi
1966
The Pretty Jade
1966
Nocturnal Lights
1966
Moment of Terror
Hisako Kanematsu
1966
Women Doing Time
1966
Four and A Half Mats
Riku
1966
Secret Club 000
1965
The Passionate Spinster
Tokiko Tsurukawa
1965
An Innocent Witch
1965
Chained Bitch
1965
Dupe
1965
Color
1965
Night Scandal
Shino
1964
Destroyer Yukikaze
1964
Jakoman and Tetsu
Taka
1964
Yearning
Bar Madam
1964
18 Roughs
Gin Ishii
1963
Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp
1963
Uogashi no senpū musume
1963
Teinen Taishoku
1963
Parakin to Kyū-chan mōshiwakenai yarō-tachi
1962
Nippon Irresponsible Guy
1962
Being Two Isn't Easy
Ino
1962
The Body
1962
Gakusei geisha koi to kenka
1962
Kyū-chan ondo
1962
Sarari man donto bushi - Kiraku na kagyô to kita monda
1962
The Broken Commandment
Owner of the hotel
1962
Eriko
Oshima
1962
Kono ni uruwashi
1962
湖愁
1962
Teppo Yasu no Shogai
1962
Haru no sanmyaku
1962
Night Mist Makes Women Cry
Yoshi Namikawa
1962
Nippon no obaachan
Waka
1962
Love's Family Tree
1961
Refresher Course for Wives
1961
Love and the Shop Curtain
1961
Tsukinode no ketto
Otani
1960
The Woman Who Touched Legs
1960
Scarred Yosaburo
1960
The Song Lantern
1960
Storm on the Silvery Peaks
Old woman
1960
Victory and Defeat
Sato
1960
White Cliffs
1960
A Woman's Testament
1960
Floating Weeds
Shige
1959
Tokyo Omnibus
1959
When a Woman Loves
Otome
1959
Diary of a Substitute Doctor
1959
The Song of the Cart
1959
The Makioka Sisters
1959
Goodbye, Hello
1959
A Grain of Wheat
1958
Confronting Fear
1958
The Precipice
1958
Futari dake no hashi
1958
Mother
1958
Stakeout
Proprietress of the Hotel Hizen-ya
1958
Tokyo Eyes
1958
Inazuma Kaidō
1957
Elegy of the North
Grandma
1957
Fighting Letter for 29 People
1957
Snow Country
1957
Tokyo Twilight
Komatsu's Mistress
1957
続二等兵物語 決戦体制の巻
1957
Typhoon Over Nagasaki
1957
Itohan Monogatari
Okô
1957
Young Lovers
1957
Sound in the Mist
1956
Training Ship of Yearning
1956
Bridge of Japan
1956
俺は死なない
1956
Children Seeking a Mother
1956
Twice on a Certain Night
1956
Yaneura no Onna-tachi
1956
刑事部屋
1956
Street of Shame
Otane
1956
Early Spring
Shige Kitagawa
1956
She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
Grandmother
1955
Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree
Tomi
1955
(Street of Wandering Pigeons) When Will the Birds Come Home
Masa
1955
The Refugee
1955
Fantasy of Youth
1955
The Magistrate
1955
A Woman's Life
Nobuko's mother
1955
A Man Among Men
Okimi
1955
Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky
Shige, Ryoichi's stepmother
1954
Twenty-Four Eyes
Otoko Sensei no Tsuma
1954
Submarine Ro Hasn't Surfaced
1954
The Story of Shunkin
1954
The Golden Demon
Tose
1954
A Certain Woman
Tome
1954
Koina no Ginpei
1954
The Wild Geese
Otsune
1953
Brother and Sister
Riki - the Mother
1953
Bot-chan
Kiyo
1953
An Heir's Place
1953
Where Chimneys Are Seen
Kayo Nojima
1953
Kanpai! Tokyo Musume
1952
Ikiru
Tatsu Watanabe
1952
Lightning
Osei
1952
母子鶴
Onao
1952
Shi no machi wo nogarete
1952
A Ripple in a Morning
1952
母山彦
1952
Wedding March
Auntie
1951
The Life of a Horse Trader
Onobu
1951
Repast
Taniguchi Shige
1951
Hibari no komoriuta
1951
Oogonju
Connie Sonobe's mother
1950
Portrait of Madame Yuki
San
1950
A Mother's Love
1950
Snow-Flake
1950
Duel in the Sun
Boarding house landlady
1950
Akireta musumetachi
1949
Ginza Cancan Girls
1949
The Rainbow Man
Kane Nonomura
1949
Nocturnal Gate
1948
Women of the Night
Brothel Keeper
1948
Women of the Night
Brothel-keeper
1948
Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
1947
A face glowing at night
1946
Aru yo no seppun
Takako
1946
Who Is the Criminal?
1945
Saigo no kikyō
1945
The Man From Chungking
妻とよ
1943
The Tiger of Malaya
Tomi
1943
New Snow
1942
Passion to Soar
1941
Ah, My Hometown
1938
The Straits of Love and Hate
Ume
1937
Tsuki yori no shisha
1934
The Feast of Gion
1933
The Water Magician
Ogin
1933
Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen
1931
The 26 Martyrs of Japan
Ohisa, Mother of Antonio
1931
And Yet They Go On
1931
Mistress of a Foreigner
Omatsu
1930
Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue
Otoku
1927
Osumi and Her Mother
1924
Moken no himitsu
1924
Seisaku no tsuma
1924