Akira Kume (久米 明, Kume Akira; February 8, 1924 – April 23, 2020) was a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator.
As of 2019, with his role as the narrator of the NHK show Tsurube's Salute to Families, he was the world's oldest active voice actor.
Contents
Biography
Kume was born in Tokyo Prefecture, Japan on February 8, 1924.
He graduated from Azabu Junior High School under their older school system and Tokyo University of Commerce, now known as Hitotsubashi University. Tadashi Nagai, the former president of Mitsui Home, was his classmate in junior high and college. People such as Masaru Hayami were his classmates in the university's preparatory program.
After experiencing the end of World War II as a student soldier and returning to university, he was deeply moved by the Haiyuza Theatre Company's production of Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector and decided to found a drama research group. In 1947, he co-founded the "Budou no Kai" theater troupe with Junji Kinoshita, Yasue Yamamoto, and other people.
He was appointed lecturer at the College of Art, Nihon University in 1972, and professor at the same university in 1975. In 1992, he received the Medal with Purple Ribbon, and received the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette in 1997.
In 2019, he officially retired from narration work and moved into a Tokyo nursing home.
Death
Kume died from heart failure on April 23, 2020, at the age of 96.
Personal life
He was the father of Daisaku Kume, who married Saki Kubota in 1985.
Filmography
Films
The Insect Woman (1963) - Investigator
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) - First Secretary Katsuzo Okumura (uncredited)
Karafuto 1945 Summer Hyosetsu no Mon (1974) - Watabe
Kinkanshoku (1975) - Prime Minister
Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset (1976) - Mayor of Tatsuno
Yojōhan seishun garasu-bari (1976) - Detective
Fumō Chitai (1976) - Cabinet minister
Female Teacher (1977) - Kamino / Schoolmaster
Kitamura Toukoku: Waga fuyu no uta (1977)
The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (1979) - Hyōgo
Dōran (1980) - Kinzo Mizoguchi
Shag (1989)
Graduation Journey: I Came from Japan (1993) - Narrator
Pipi to benai hotaru (1996) - Elder Stag
Television dramas
Key Hunter (1968) - Killer Ueno
Kunitori Monogatari (1973) - Akechi Mitsuyasu
Taiyō ni Hoero! (1978–1979) - Soda
Oretachi wa Tenshi da! (1979), Episode #1 - Funashima
Kusa Moeru (1979) - Itō Sukechika
Kinpachi-sensei (1981) - Ōyama
Shadow Warriors (1981) - Tokugawa Mitsukuni
Ōoka Echizen (1983) - Old man
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1983) - Katagiri Katsumoto
Choshichiro Edo Nikki (1983) - Amemiya
Musashibō Benkei (1986) - Minamoto no Yorimasa
Edo o Kiru (1987) - Matsudaira Izuminokami
Hachidai Shōgun Yoshimune (1995) - Ōkubo Tadatomo
Stage
Death of a Salesman
The Lower Depths
The Merchant of Venice
The Tempest
Television animation
Botchan (1980) - Narrator
In the Beginning: The Bible Stories (1992) - Narrator
Phoenix (2004) - Narrator
Theatrical animation
Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie (1982) - Professor Toporo
Crusher Joe (1983) - Dan
Penguin's Memory - Shiawase Monogatari (1985) - The Librarian
Nobita's the Night Before a Wedding (short film) (1999) - Yoshio Minamoto (Shizuka's father)
Video games
The Legend of Dragoon (1999) - Dewey
Dubbing
Humphrey Bogart
Angels with Dirty Faces (Jim Frazier)
The Roaring Twenties (George Hally)
The Maltese Falcon (Sam Spade)
Casablanca (1967 TV Asahi edition) (Rick Blaine)
Action in the North Atlantic (First Officer Joe Rossi)
Sahara (Sergeant Joe Gunn)
To Have and Have Not (Harry "Steve" Morgan)
The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe)
Key Largo (1967 TV Asahi edition) (Maj. Frank McCloud)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Fred C. Dobbs)
The African Queen (Charlie Allnut)
The Barefoot Contessa (1966 TV Asahi and 1979 TV Tokyo editions) (Harry Dawes)
The Caine Mutiny (1979 Fuji TV edition) (Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg)
Sabrina (Linus Larrabee)
The Desperate Hours (NHK edition (Glenn Griffin))
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1976 Fuji TV edition) (Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness))
The Changeling (John Russell (George C. Scott))
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2008 NTV edition) (Dr. Wilbur Wonka (Christopher Lee))
Honours
Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon (1992)
Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (1997)