He also appeared in 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.'
Sonny Chiba at the Paris Manga & Sci-Fi Show in 2016Shinichi “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 of COVID complications, his agent and manager confirmed toChiba’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 Jan. 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.
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. In Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill: Volume 1,” Chiba played Hattori Hanzo, a retired swordsman and owner of a sushi restaurant who crafts a blade for Uma Thurman’s main character. He also appeared in “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” as Kamata, a Yakuza boss and uncle of the main antagonist Takashi .
Some of Chiba’s other credits included “The Bullet Train,” “Champion of Death,” “The Storm Riders,” “Karate Warriors,” “Doberman Cop,” “Shogun’s Samurai,” “G.I. Samurai” and many more. Before the pandemic, he was set to star in a film titled “Outbreak Z” alongside Jesse Ventura and Wesley Snipes. “Bond of Justice: Kizuna” will be his final, posthumous film role.
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