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.
190 acting credits
Acting · 190
Ikiru
1952
Hachiko
1987
Kininaru Yomesan
1971
White Runway
1974
Street of Shame
1956
Floating Weeds
1959
Two in the Shadow
1967
You Were Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
1955
Early Spring
1956
An Innocent Witch
1965
Twenty-Four Eyes
1954
Lonely Heart
1985
Yearning
1964
Tokyo Twilight
1957
Portrait of Madame Yuki
1950
Brother and Sister
1953
Uogashi no senpū musume
1963
Stakeout
1958
Snow Country
1957
Moment of Terror
1966
Women of the Night
1948
Repast
1951
Tora-san's Pure Love
1976
Lightning
1952
Bridge of Japan
1956
Game of Chance
1966
Stray Dog
1973
The Life of a Horse Trader
1951
A Mother's Love
1950
Before Spring
1980
Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree
1955
Eyes, the Sea and a Ball
1967
A Certain Woman
1954
Itohan Monogatari
1957
Being Two Isn't Easy
1962
The Body
1962
A Man Among Men
1955
18 Roughs
1963
Irohanihoheto
1960
Duel in the Sun
1950
A Woman's Testament
1960
Women Doing Time
1966
The Refugee
1955
The Broken Commandment
1962
The Straits of Love and Hate
1937
A Woman's Life
1955
House of Many Pleasures
1955
Typhoon Over Nagasaki
1957
Goodbye, Hello
1959
The Song Lantern
1960
Yanagase Blues
1967
The Makioka Sisters
1959
Where Chimneys Are Seen
1953
Tokyo Omnibus
1959
Irresponsible Rascal of Japan
1962
Tokyo Eyes
1958
喜劇 右向けェ左！
1970
The Bad Guy Blues
1969
Yaneura no Onna-tachi
1956
Twice on a Certain Night
1956
Elegy of the North
1957
The Water Magician
1933
Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky
1954
The Wild Geese
1953
Fighting Letter for 29 People
1957
The Tiger of Malaya
1943
The Song of the Cart
1959
Victory and Defeat
1960
A Bridge for Two Alone
1958
Four and A Half Mats
1966
Who Is the Criminal?
1945
Bot-chan
1953
The Salaryman's Carefree Life: What a Relaxed Job This Is!
1962
The Cold-Hearted Sea
1984
Love and the Shop Curtain
1961
Parakin to Kyū-chan mōshiwakenai yarō-tachi
1962
Hibari no komoriuta
1951
Snow-Flake
1950
A Ripple in a Morning
1952
Ginza Cancan Girls
1949
The Final Gamble
1970
Mother
1958
A Grain of Wheat
1958
Teinen Taishoku
1963
The 26 Martyrs of Japan
1931
Saigo no kikyō
1945
I Sell My Husband
1968
Love's Family Tree
1961
Kyū-chan ondo
1962
The Feast of Gion
1933
The Passionate Spinster
1965
Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp
1963
Koina no Ginpei
1954
Sound in the Mist
1956
Training Ship of Yearning
1956
Wedding March
1951
The Story of Shunkin
1954
The Precipice
1958
Destroyer Yukikaze
1964
The Pretty Jade
1966
White Cliffs
1960
Hibi no haishin
1958
Teppo Yasu no Shogai
1962
Children Seeking a Mother
1956
Refresher Course for Wives
1961
Jakoman and Tetsu
1964
Chained Bitch
1965
Haru no sanmyaku
1962
Fantasy of Youth
1955
Adults Games
1971
刑事部屋
1956
The Secret Ceremony
1971
Koshū
1962
Dupe
1965
Golden Beast
1950
Night Mist Makes Women Cry
1962
Gakusei geisha koi to kenka
1962
A Face Glowing at Night
1946
Nippon no obaachan
1962
俺は死なない
1956
Akireta musumetachi
1949
Checkers in Tan Tan tanuki
1984
Storm on the Silvery Peaks
1960
Inazuma Kaidō
1957
Onna Ikitemasu: Sakariba Wataridori
1972
Tsukinode no ketto
1960
Victory or Defeat
1954
Confronting Fear
1958
Mistress of a Foreigner
1930
Passion to Soar
1941
The Woman Who Touched Legs
1960
New Snow
1942
Nocturnal Lights
1966
Flower's Yearning
1958
The Man From Chungking
1943
Eriko
1962
Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue
1927
The Golden Demon
1954
Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
1947
Diary of a Substitute Doctor
1959
An Heir's Place
1953
Submarine Ro Hasn't Surfaced
1954
Girl in College
1969
And Yet They Go On
1931
Kono ni uruwashi
1962
Aru yo no seppun
1946
We Are Salarymen
1963
Moken no himitsu
1924
The Magistrate
1955
母子鶴
1952
Night Scandal
1964
The Rainbow Man
1949
Flower Cards Chivalry
1967
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
1975
When a Woman Loves
1960
The Cat Knew
1958
Scarred Yosaburo
1960
東京シンデレラ娘
1954
Ah, My Hometown
1938
Nocturnal Gate
1948
Secret Club 000
1965
母山彦
1952
Koi no otome kawa
1969
日輪 前篇
1926
Ie naki musume
1939
Color
1965
Shi no machi wo nogarete
1952
続二等兵物語 決戦体制の巻
1957
Dadakko Shachou
1956
Lovely Days
1984
Season of Tears
1969
Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen
1931
Seisaku no tsuma
1924
Seishun no oto
1956
Tsuki yori no shisha
1934
Kanpai! Tokyo Musume
1952
Oka wa hanazakari
1952
Here It is Quiet
1956
Young Lovers
1957
瓢箪から出た駒
1946
Twenty-One Concubines: The Life of a Pervert
1969
Hills of a Foreign Country
1949
Hear My Mother's Cry
1959
Monkey Business
1957
Yurakucho 0 Street
1958
Osumi and Her Mother
1924
Youth
1955
Iku-san ga
1946
Blind Love
1959
The 99th Bride
1947