
Kumeko Urabe
Biography
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.
Acting (157 movies)

Early Spring
1956

Hachiko
1987

Scarred Yosaburo
1960

Nocturnal Lights
1966

Sarari man donto bushi - Kiraku na kagyô to kita monda
1962

Haru no sanmyaku
1962

Teppo Yasu no Shogai
1962

Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue
1927

Street of Shame
1956

湖愁
1962

Victory and Defeat
1960

Wedding March
1951

Kono ni uruwashi
1962

Duel in the Sun
1950

The Song Lantern
1960

Bridge of Japan
1956

Floating Weeds
1959

Irresponsible Rascal of Japan
1962

Dupe
1965

Koina no Ginpei
1954

The 26 Martyrs of Japan
1931

Women of the Night
1948

Aru yo no seppun
1946

Women Doing Time
1966

Night Scandal
1964

Girl in College
1969

The Broken Commandment
1962

Yearning
1964

She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
1955

The Wild Geese
1953

The Body
1962

Before Spring
1980

Being Two Isn't Easy
1962

The Straits of Love and Hate
1937

Hibari no komoriuta
1951

Kyū-chan ondo
1962

18 Roughs
1963

The Story of Shunkin
1954

Secret Club 000
1965

Shi no machi wo nogarete
1952

When a Woman Loves
1960

Sound in the Mist
1956

The Man From Chungking
1943

Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
1947

Gakusei geisha koi to kenka
1962

母山彦
1952

Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree
1955

The Precipice
1958

Confronting Fear
1958

俺は死なない
1956

Onna Ikitemasu: Sakariba Wataridori
1972

喜劇 右向けェ左!
1970

An Heir's Place
1953

(Street of Wandering Pigeons) When Will the Birds Come Home
1955

Parakin to Kyū-chan mōshiwakenai yarō-tachi
1962

Tsuki yori no shisha
1934

Ikiru
1952

A Certain Woman
1954

Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen
1931

Saigo no kikyō
1945

Four and A Half Mats
1966

Repast
1951

Lightning
1952

Brother and Sister
1953

Ginza Cancan Girls
1949

Where Chimneys Are Seen
1953

The Pretty Jade
1966

Who Is the Criminal?
1945

A Face Glowing at Night
1946

Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky
1954

The Makioka Sisters
1959

Women of the Night
1948

Bot-chan
1953

The Song of the Cart
1959

Training Ship of Yearning
1956

Stakeout
1958

Miss Lonely
1985

An Innocent Witch
1965

Moment of Terror
1966

The Golden Demon
1954

Kanpai! Tokyo Musume
1952

The Woman Who Touched Legs
1960

The Life of a Horse Trader
1951

Elegy of the North
1957

The Bad Guy Blues
1969

Two in the Shadow
1967

The Feast of Gion
1933

Jakoman and Tetsu
1964

Love's Family Tree
1961

Akireta musumetachi
1949

Portrait of Madame Yuki
1950

Snow Country
1957

Stray Dog
1973

Fantasy of Youth
1955

Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
1975

Adults Games
1971

And Yet They Go On
1931

The Secret Ceremony
1971

I Sell My Husband
1968

Snow-Flake
1950
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