Masao Kusakari

Masao Kusakari (草刈 正雄, Kusakari Masao, born September 5, 1952 in Yukuhashi, Fukuoka) is a Japanese actor and model.

Masao Kusakari
Born	(1952-09-05) September 5, 1952 (age 72) Yukuhashi, Fukuoka, Japan
Occupation(s)	Actor, model
Years active	1970–present
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Children	Kuran Kusakari Mayū Kusakari

Biography

Masao Kusakari was born in Fukuoka Prefecture to a Japanese mother Sueko from Yukuhashi, and an American father Robert H. Tolar from Tar Heel, North Carolina, a USAF mailman who was deployed to Tsuiki Base during Korean War. Masao was told by Sueko (who died in 2010) that Robert had died in the Korean War, and he believed so,^[1] until NHK show "Family History" discovered^[2] that Robert had left Japan to move back to the US before Masao was born, then deployed to West Germany for several years as a military personnel, and later settled back in North Carolina where he died in 2013. After Masao was born, Sueko left her hometown of Yukuhashi, where there were strong prejudices against children with mixed races, then settled in Kokura (Current Kitakyushu) where she worked for multiple jobs to raise Masao. Masao also started working as early as elementary school age as a newspaper delivery boy. He started his career as a fashion model in Fukuoka when he was a high school student. Considered stunningly good looking, Masao was scouted at age 17 by a model agency in Tokyo, where his debut into the public eye began when he became a model for Shiseido Cosmetics in the early 1970's. He joined Toho in 1974 and began his career as a screen actor.^[3] He won his first major award at the Elan d'or Awards in 1975, and a year later, appeared in Kaze to Kumo to Niji to, a dream of his since early childhood to star in a taiga drama. From then to the early 1980's, Kusakari was one of the most popular actors in Japan.^[3]

He won popularity again through his role in Sanada Maru in 2016.^[4][5] In 2017, Kusakari won Best Supporting Actor of 10th Tokyo Drama Awards for his role in Sanada Maru.^[6] In 2019, Kusakari appeared in the Asadora Natsuzora and played an important role that has a great influence on leading character Natsu's life.^[7][8][9]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1974	ESPY	Jirō Miki
	Okita Sōji	Okita Sōji	Lead role
	Himiko	Takehiko
1975	Gambare Wakadaishō	Shōzo Umeno aka Wakadaishō	Lead role	[10]
1976	Brother and Sister	Inokichi
1978	Hi no Tori	Yumihiko of Matsuro
1979	G.I. Samurai	Masakichi
	Byoinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie	Hinatsu Mokutaro
1980	Virus	Yoshizumi	Lead role
1981	Eijanaika	Itoman
1982	Yogoreta Eiyu	Akio Kitano	Lead role
1987	Horinonakano Playball	Junichi Mizuta	Lead role
1989	Yuwakusha	Kazuhiko Sotomura
1995	August in the Water
1999	Hakuchi	Kogarashi
2004	Ultraman: The Next	Manjōme
2013	Casting Blossoms to the Sky
2018	My Retirement, My Life	Michitarō Sano	Lead role	[11]
2019	Hit me Anyone One More Time	Daigo Tsurumaru		[12]
2022	Dreaming of the Meridian Arc	The Governor of Chiba / Tokugawa Ienari		[13]
2024	Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General	King Zhaoxiang of Qin		[14]
TBA	Emergency Interrogation Room: The Final	Masanao Gōhara		[15]

Television dramas

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1976	Kaze to Kumo to Niji to	Kashima no Haruaki	Taiga drama	[16]
1981	Pro Hunter	Shunsuke Ryuzaki	Lead role
1985	Sanada Taiheiki	Sanada Yukimura		[17]
1994	Minami-kun no Koibito	Chiyomi's father
	Hana no Ran	Hino Katsumitsu	Taiga drama	[18]
1996	Furuhata Ninzaburō	Ken'ichirō Inui	Episode 16
	Iguana Girl	Masanori Aoshima
1997	Mōri Motonari	Katsura Hirozumi	Taiga drama	[19]
2002	Shopping Hero
2004	Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy
2005	Yoshitsune	Taira no Tomoyasu	Taiga drama
2008	Atsuhime	Abe Masahiro	Taiga drama	[20]
2009	Atashinchi no Danshi
2010	Saka no Ue no Kumo	Katō Tomosaburō		[21]
2011	Gō	Honda Masanobu	Taiga drama	[22]
2012	Priceless	Hirose
2014	Emergency Interrogation Room	Masanao Gōhara		[15]
2016	Sanada Maru	Sanada Masayuki	Taiga drama	[17]
2017	Bakumatsu Gourmet Bushi Meshi!	The Lord
	Doctor-X Season 5	Kagenobu Uchikanda
2018	Fūunji tachi	Tanuma Okitsugu	Television film
2019	Innocence, Fight Against False Charges	Shin Kurokawa	Special appearance
	Natsuzora	Taiju Shibata	Asadora	[23]
2020	Operation Z	Prime minister Ejima	Lead role
	Love Begins When the Money Ends	Tomihiko Saruwatari	Miniseries	[24]
2021	A Man and His Cat	Kanda Fuyuki	Lead role	[25]
2022	Chimudondon	Gorō Ōsato	Asadora	[26]

Dubbing

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1997	My Best Friend's Wedding	George Downes (Rupert Everett)	2000 NTV edition
2008	WALL-E	Captain B. McCrea		[27]
2017	Murder on the Orient Express	Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh)		[28]

Awards and prizes

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1975	Elan d'or Awards	Newcomer of the Year	Himself	Won	[29]
2017	10th Tokyo Drama Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Sanada Maru	Won	[30]

References

1. "Kusakari Masao". Kotobanku (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
2. "Masao Kusakari". Family History (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
3. 日本映画人名事典』男優篇 上巻、キネマ旬報社、1996 P.552
4. "草刈正雄 還暦過ぎてファースト写真集のワケ根がネガティブな男なんです". AERA DOT. 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
5. "売れ行き順調！ 草刈正雄芸歴47年で初写真集「次は脱がなきゃ」". AERA DOT. 2017-11-24. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
6. "堺雅人&草刈正雄 真田丸 親子が「東京ドラマアウォード」でツーショット". マイナビニュース. 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
7. "「なつぞら」草刈正雄の名演にネット号泣「もう無理」「涙で字幕が」". スポニチ. 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
8. "「なつぞら」草刈正雄の深イイ演技で再注目 NHK朝ドラ歴代"名脇役おじさん"11選". 文集オンライン. 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
9. "なつぞら 草刈正雄の演技＆セリフに心打たれる人続出". News ポストセブン. 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
10. "Gambare Wakadaishō". Kinenote. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
11. "体操しようよ". eiga.com. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
12. "記憶にございません！". eiga.com. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
13. "志の輔の落語を実写化した「大河への道」に岸井ゆきの、橋爪功ら出演、全員1人2役". Natalie. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
14. "実写『キングダム』昭王役は草刈正雄！予告編に登場". Cinematoday. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
15. "劇場版「緊急取調室」に杉咲花、眞島秀和、草刈正雄、比嘉愛未らドラマキャスト集結". natalie. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
16. "風と雲と虹と". Haiyaku Jiten. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
17. "【真田丸】草刈正雄、「丹波さんが見ているような気がした」". Oricon. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
18. "花の乱". Haiyaku Jiten. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
19. "毛利元就". Haiyaku Jiten. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
20. "篤姫の出演者・キャスト一覧". The Television. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
21. "坂の上の雲". Haiyaku Jiten. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
22. "大河ドラマ『江』新キャストに草刈正雄ら! 1話完成にプロデューサー手ごたえ十分". Oricon. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
23. "なつぞらの出演者・キャスト一覧". The Television. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
24. "おカネの切れ目が恋のはじまりの出演者・キャスト一覧". The Television. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
25. "1人と1匹の心温まる日々「おじさまと猫」ドラマ化、草刈正雄が猫と運命の出会い". Natalie. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
26. "草刈正雄:朝ドラで次女・麻有と親子役共演「ちむどんどん」最終週に登場". Mantan-web. 23 September 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
27. "ウォーリー". Disney. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
28. "オリエント急行殺人事件(2017)". Wowow. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
29. "エランドール賞歴代受賞者一覧". All Nippon Producers Association. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
30. Tokyo Drama Awards 2017

External links

• Official profile (in Japanese)
• Masao Kusakari at IMDb