Noriko Matsumoto (actress)

Kazuko Shimizu (Japanese: 清水 和子, Hepburn: Shimizu Kazuko, 9 August 1935 – 26 March 2014), known professionally as Noriko Matsumoto (松本 典子, Matsumoto Noriko), was a Japanese actress and stage director. She and her husband, playwright Kunio Shimizu, were co-founders of the stage company Mokutōsha.

Noriko Matsumoto
松本 典子
Born(1935-08-09)9 August 1935
Tokyo, Japan
Died26 March 2014(2014-03-26) (aged 78)
Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Occupations
  • Actress
  • stage director
Years active1954–2001
Spouse
(died 2014)

Biography edit

Kazuko Shimizu[1] was born on 9 August 1935 in Tokyo.[1][2] and educated at Ohtani Gakuen and the Haiyuza Theatre Company training school.[1][3] She joined the Mingei Theatre Company in 1959.[3]

After her debut in Kiyomi Hotta's 1954 production of Shima, Matsumoto began appearing in stage productions, including Jukichi Uno's production of Three Sisters.[1] In 1976, she and her husband Kunio Shimizu were among the co-founders of the stage company Mokutōsha, where she later worked as a leading actor and in the 1990s began working as a director.[2][3] Her last performance was at the June 2001 Theater X [ja] production of Joyū N.[3] Outside of the stage, also had some film and television credits,[4] including as Fumiko in The Warped Ones.[5]

Matsumoto won two Kinokuniya Theatre Awards [ja]: in 1979 for her performances in Mokutōsha's production of Gakuya and Janjan's production of Jochū-tachi; and in 1984 for her performance in Mokutōsha's production of Love Letter: Ai to Hi no Seishin Bunseki.[6] She was awarded a 1987 Arts Encouragement [ja] Award for her performance at Tango at the End of Winter [ja].[2]

Following a month of hospitalization, Matsumoto died on 26 March 2014 of interstitial pneumonia at a hospital in Setagaya, aged 78.[4] Her funeral was restricted to close relatives, with Shimizu serving as the chief mourner.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "松本典子". デジタル版 日本人名大辞典+Plus (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 January 2024 – via Kotobank.
  2. ^ a b c "俳優の松本典子さん死去". Asahi Shimbun. 28 March 2014. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e "松本典子さん死去 間質性肺炎で". Daily Sports (in Japanese). 29 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b "女優の松本典子さん死去、78歳 蜷川さん演出作品で芸術選奨". Sponichi Annex. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  5. ^ "狂熱の季節". Nikkatsu (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  6. ^ "紀伊國屋演劇賞 - パート 2". Kinokuniya. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2024.