Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba, the Japanese actor and martial arts legend who had roles in American films like “Kill Bill” and “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift,” died on Thur…
Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba, the Japanese actor and martial arts legend who had roles in American films like “Kill Bill” and “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift,” died on Thursday, his agent confirmed to Chiba’s career in film and television spanned from the 1960s through the 2010s, and he appeared in countless Japanese titles, in addition to some popular American films.
Born Sadaho Maeda in Fukuoka, Japan, on January 22, 1939, he began learning martial arts while at the Nippon Sports Science University in 1957. He studied under karate master Masutatsu “Mas” Oyama and earned a first-degree black belt in 1965. He later played Oyama in a trilogy of films, “Champion of Death,” “Karate Bearfighter” and “Karate for Life,” in the late 1970s. In 1984, he received a fourth-degree black belt.
He began his career in film and TV in 1960, taking on the name Shinichi Chiba. His first roles came on Japanese superhero shows “Seven Color Mask,” where he replaced the lead actor, and “Messenger of Allah,” where he played the main character. His first movie roles were in a series of crime thrillers by Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku, with whom he was a frequent collaborator, and the sci-fi film “Invasion of the Neptune Men” in 1961.
Chiba starred in his first martial arts film, “Karate Kiba,” in 1973, and his international breakout role came in 1974’s “The Street Fighter,” which was released in the U.S. by New Line Cinema with an X-rating for its violence.
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