Kumeko Urabe
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.
Photos
Films (252)
Hachiko
1987 · Tobacco Shop Owner
Checkers in Tan Tan tanuki
1985
Lonely Heart
1985 · Fuki Inoue
The Cold-Hearted Sea
1984
Lovely Days
1984 · Old lady
Before Spring
1980 · Toyo
Tora-san's Pure Love
1976
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
1975 · Self
Stray Dog
1973
Onna Ikitemasu: Sakariba Wataridori
1972 · Tsue
The Secret Ceremony
1971
Adults Games
1971
喜劇 右向けェ左！
1970
Wicked Priest 4: The Killer Priest Comes Back
1970
The Final Gamble
1970
The Bad Guy Blues
1969
Girl in College
1969
Season of Tears
1969
Twenty-One Concubines: The Life of a Pervert
1969
River Of Love
1969
I Sell My Husband
1968
Happiness For You — Sentimental Boy
1967
Two in the Shadow
1967
Eyes, the Sea and a Ball
1967
Yanagase Blues
1967 · Kane Sasagawa
Flower Cards Chivalry
1967
Game of Chance
1966 · Sugi
The Pretty Jade
1966
Nocturnal Lights
1966
Moment of Terror
1966 · Hisako Kanematsu
Women Doing Time
1966
Four and A Half Mats
1966 · Riku
Secret Club 000
1965
The Passionate Spinster
1965 · Tokiko Tsurukawa
An Innocent Witch
1965
Chained Bitch
1965
Dupe
1965
Color
1965
Night Scandal
1964 · Shino
Destroyer Yukikaze
1964
Jakoman and Tetsu
1964 · Taka
Yearning
1964 · Bar Madam
We Are Salarymen
1963 · Shizuko Komuro (Eiichiro’s Mother)
18 Roughs
1963 · Gin Ishii
Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp
1963
Uogashi no senpū musume
1963
Teinen Taishoku
1963
Parakin to Kyū-chan mōshiwakenai yarō-tachi
1962
Irresponsible Rascal of Japan
1962
Being Two Isn't Easy
1962 · Ino
The Body
1962
Gakusei geisha koi to kenka
1962
Kyū-chan ondo
1962
The Salaryman's Carefree Life: What a Relaxed Job This Is!
1962
The Broken Commandment
1962 · Owner of the hotel
Eriko
1962 · Oshima
Kono ni uruwashi
1962
Koshū
1962
Teppo Yasu no Shogai
1962
Haru no sanmyaku
1962
Night Mist Makes Women Cry
1962 · Yoshi Namikawa
Nippon no obaachan
1962 · Waka
Ganpā kachō
1961
Kōmori yashiki
1961
Love's Family Tree
1961
Refresher Course for Wives
1961
Love and the Shop Curtain
1961
Tobidashita onna daimyō
1961
The Legendary Hell
1960 · Osumi
Tsukinode no ketto
1960 · Otani
The Woman Who Touched Legs
1960
Scarred Yosaburo
1960
Irohanihoheto
1960
The Song Lantern
1960
Storm on the Silvery Peaks
1960 · Old woman
Victory and Defeat
1960 · Sato
White Cliffs
1960
Haha sakura
1960
A Woman's Testament
1960
When a Woman Loves
1960 · Otome
Floating Weeds
1959 · Shige
Tokyo Omnibus
1959
Hear My Mother's Cry
1959
Blind Love
1959
Romance of a Ferry Man
1959
Diary of a Substitute Doctor
1959
Ittōsai wa sebangō 6
1959
Women's Classroom
1959
The Song of the Cart
1959
The Makioka Sisters
1959
Nureta hitomi
1959
Goodbye, Hello
1959 · Restaurant owner
Yurakucho 0 Street
1958 · Mother of A 16号
A Grain of Wheat
1958
Flower's Yearning
1958 · Muraki Sawa
Confronting Fear
1958
The Cat Knew
1958
The Precipice
1958
A Bridge for Two Alone
1958
Mother
1958
Hibi no haishin
1958
Okesa karasu
1958
Stakeout
1958 · Proprietress of the Hotel Hizen-ya
Tokyo Eyes
1958
Chūzaisho nikki
1957
Inazuma Kaidō
1957
Monkey Business
1957 · Yone
Elegy of the North
1957 · Grandma
Fighting Letter for 29 People
1957
Snow Country
1957
Tokyo Twilight
1957 · Komatsu's Mistress
続二等兵物語 決戦体制の巻
1957
Typhoon Over Nagasaki
1957
Itohan Monogatari
1957 · Okô
Young Lovers
1957
Sound in the Mist
1956
Here It is Quiet
1956
Training Ship of Yearning
1956
Bridge of Japan
1956
Horeruna Yanpachi
1956
俺は死なない
1956
Studio wa ōsawagi
1956
Children Seeking a Mother
1956 · Older Woman
Asashio yushio
1956
Sound of Youth
1956
Yaneura no Onna-tachi
1956
Twice on a Certain Night
1956
Headquarters of Crime Detection
1956
Street of Shame
1956 · Otane
The Spoiled Brat President
1956
Early Spring
1956 · Shige Kitagawa
The Buried Treasure
1956
She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
1955 · Grandmother
I Was Tokichiro
1955
Shichinin no ani imōto
1955
Youth
1955
Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree
1955 · Tomi
Troupers of Asakusa
1955
House of Many Pleasures
1955 · Masa
Tokyo Gang
1955
The Refugee
1955
Fantasy of Youth
1955
Tenka o nerau bishōnen
1955
The Magistrate
1955
Ginji of the Seven Faces
1955
A Girl Who Delivers Happiness
1955
A Woman's Life
1955 · Nobuko's mother
Rōkyoku tengu dōjō
1955
A Man Among Men
1955 · Okimi
Victory or Defeat
1954
Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky
1954 · Shige, Ryoichi's stepmother
The Moon Over the Ruined Castle
1954
Twenty-Four Eyes
1954 · Otoko Sensei no Tsuma
Submarine Ro Hasn't Surfaced
1954
The Story of Shunkin
1954
東京シンデレラ娘
1954
The Golden Demon
1954 · Tose
A Certain Woman
1954 · Tome
Four Mothers
1954
Koina no Ginpei
1954
Shinzōyaburi no oka
1954
Haha no mizūmi
1953
To the Ends of the Earth
1953
Asakusa monogatari
1953
The Wild Geese
1953 · Otsune
Shunsetsu no mon
1953
Brother and Sister
1953 · Riki - the Mother
Bot-chan
1953 · Kiyo
An Heir's Place
1953
Hiren tsubaki
1953
Where Chimneys Are Seen
1953 · Kayo Nojima
Kettō gofun mae
1953
Kanpai! Tokyo Musume
1952
Machi no kotengu
1952
Oka wa hanazakari
1952
Forever My Love
1952
Ikiru
1952 · Tatsu Watanabe
Lightning
1952 · Osei
Hahakozuru
1952 · Onao
Escape from the City of Death
1952
A Ripple in a Morning
1952
Haha yamahiko
1952
Yobiko hoshi
1952
Dokuja-tō kidan: Joōbachi
1952
Mabuta no haha
1952
Wedding March
1951 · Auntie
The Life of a Horse Trader
1951 · Onobu
Repast
1951 · Taniguchi Shige
Tokyo Elegy
1951
Hibari no komoriuta
1951
Dorei no machi
1951
Koi no Oranda-zaka
1951
Fire Department
1951
Shimai hoshi
1950
Shinju fujin: Hitozuma no maki
1950
Golden Beast
1950 · Connie Sonobe's mother
Portrait of Madame Yuki
1950 · San
Shinju fujin: Shojo no maki
1950
A Mother's Love
1950
Snow-Flake
1950
Tsuma mo koisu
1950
Duel in the Sun
1950 · Boarding house landlady
Koga Manshion
1949
Onna goroshi abura jigoku
1949
Akireta musumetachi
1949
Hana no jitsugetsu
1949
Ginza Cancan Girls
1949
Full Moon
1949
The Rainbow Man
1949 · Kane Nonomura
Hills of a Foreign Country
1949 · Iku
Three Mothers
1949
Arashi no naka no shimai
1949
Kenji to onnakanshu
1949
Nocturnal Gate
1948
Women of the Night
1948 · Brothel Keeper
The Little Green Box
1947
First Love Story
1947
Female Prisoner #36
1947
The 99th Bride
1947
Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
1947
The Monk Who Became a Raccoon Dog
1946
Convent Bride
1946
Kimi ka to omohite
1946
A Face Glowing at Night
1946
Aru yo no seppun
1946 · Takako
Kare to kanojo wa iku
1946
Machi no ninkisha
1946
瓢箪から出た駒
1946
Iku-san ga
1946
Who Is the Criminal?
1945
Saigo no kikyō
1945
The Man From Chungking
1943 · 妻とよ
The Tiger of Malaya
1943 · Tomi
Genghis Khan
1943
New Snow
1942
Passion to Soar
1941
Ie naki musume
1939
Ah, My Hometown
1938
The Straits of Love and Hate
1937 · Ume
Tsuki yori no shisha
1934
The Feast of Gion
1933
The Water Magician
1933 · Ogin
Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen
1931
The 26 Martyrs of Japan
1931 · Ohisa, Mother of Antonio
And Yet They Go On
1931
Mistress of a Foreigner
1930 · Omatsu
Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue
1927 · Otoku
日輪 前篇
1926
Osumi and Her Mother
1924
Moken no himitsu
1924
Seisaku no tsuma
1924
Kakute ninjutsu eiga wa owarinu
