Kumeko Urabe
Biography
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.
Known For

Ikiru

Hachiko

White Runway

Kininaru Yomesan

Twenty-Four Eyes

Two in the Shadow

Floating Weeds

Street of Shame
All Movies (192)
- Hachiko1987 · as Tobacco Shop Owner
- Checkers in Tan Tan tanuki1985
- Lonely Heart1985 · as Fuki Inoue
- The Cold-Hearted Sea1984
- Lovely Days1984 · as Old lady
- Before Spring1980 · as Toyo
- Tora-san's Pure Love1976
- Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director1975 · as Self
- Stray Dog1973
- Onna Ikitemasu: Sakariba Wataridori1972 · as Tsue
- The Secret Ceremony1971
- Adults Games1971
- 喜劇 右向けェ左!1970
- The Final Gamble1970
- The Bad Guy Blues1969
- Girl in College1969
- Season of Tears1969
- Twenty-One Concubines: The Life of a Pervert1969
- River Of Love1969
- I Sell My Husband1968
- Two in the Shadow1967
- Eyes, the Sea and a Ball1967
- Yanagase Blues1967 · as Kane Sasagawa
- Flower Cards Chivalry1967
- Game of Chance1966 · as Sugi
- The Pretty Jade1966
- Nocturnal Lights1966
- Moment of Terror1966 · as Hisako Kanematsu
- Women Doing Time1966
- Four and A Half Mats1966 · as Riku
- Secret Club 0001965
- The Passionate Spinster1965 · as Tokiko Tsurukawa
- An Innocent Witch1965
- Chained Bitch1965
- Dupe1965
- Color1965
- Night Scandal1964 · as Shino
- Destroyer Yukikaze1964
- Jakoman and Tetsu1964 · as Taka
- Yearning1964 · as Bar Madam
- We Are Salarymen1963 · as Shizuko Komuro (Eiichiro’s Mother)
- 18 Roughs1963 · as Gin Ishii
- Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp1963
- Uogashi no senpū musume1963
- Teinen Taishoku1963
- Parakin to Kyū-chan mōshiwakenai yarō-tachi1962
- Irresponsible Rascal of Japan1962
- Being Two Isn't Easy1962 · as Ino
- The Body1962
- Gakusei geisha koi to kenka1962
- Kyū-chan ondo1962
- The Salaryman's Carefree Life: What a Relaxed Job This Is!1962
- The Broken Commandment1962 · as Owner of the hotel
- Eriko1962 · as Oshima
- Kono ni uruwashi1962
- Koshū1962
- Teppo Yasu no Shogai1962
- Haru no sanmyaku1962
- Night Mist Makes Women Cry1962 · as Yoshi Namikawa
- Nippon no obaachan1962 · as Waka
- Love's Family Tree1961
- Refresher Course for Wives1961
- Love and the Shop Curtain1961
- The Legendary Hell1960 · as Osumi
- Tsukinode no ketto1960 · as Otani
- The Woman Who Touched Legs1960
- Scarred Yosaburo1960
- Irohanihoheto1960
- The Song Lantern1960
- Storm on the Silvery Peaks1960 · as Old woman
- Victory and Defeat1960 · as Sato
- White Cliffs1960
- A Woman's Testament1960
- When a Woman Loves1960 · as Otome
- Floating Weeds1959 · as Shige
- Tokyo Omnibus1959
- Hear My Mother's Cry1959
- Blind Love1959
- Diary of a Substitute Doctor1959
- The Song of the Cart1959
- The Makioka Sisters1959
- Goodbye, Hello1959 · as Restaurant owner
- Yurakucho 0 Street1958 · as Mother of A 16号
- A Grain of Wheat1958
- Flower's Yearning1958 · as Muraki Sawa
- Confronting Fear1958
- The Cat Knew1958
- The Precipice1958
- A Bridge for Two Alone1958
- Mother1958
- Hibi no haishin1958
- Stakeout1958 · as Proprietress of the Hotel Hizen-ya
- Tokyo Eyes1958
- Inazuma Kaidō1957
- Monkey Business1957 · as Yone
- Elegy of the North1957 · as Grandma
- Fighting Letter for 29 People1957
- Snow Country1957
- Tokyo Twilight1957 · as Komatsu's Mistress
- 続二等兵物語 決戦体制の巻1957
- Typhoon Over Nagasaki1957
- Itohan Monogatari1957 · as Okô
- Young Lovers1957
- Sound in the Mist1956
- Here It is Quiet1956
- Training Ship of Yearning1956
- Bridge of Japan1956
- 俺は死なない1956
- Children Seeking a Mother1956 · as Older Woman
- Seishun no oto1956
- Twice on a Certain Night1956
- Yaneura no Onna-tachi1956
- 刑事部屋1956
- Street of Shame1956 · as Otane
- Dadakko Shachou1956
- Early Spring1956 · as Shige Kitagawa
- She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum1955 · as Grandmother
- Youth1955
- Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree1955 · as Tomi
- House of Many Pleasures1955 · as Masa
- The Refugee1955
- Fantasy of Youth1955
- The Magistrate1955
- A Woman's Life1955 · as Nobuko's mother
- A Man Among Men1955 · as Okimi
- Victory or Defeat1954
- Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky1954 · as Shige, Ryoichi's stepmother
- Twenty-Four Eyes1954 · as Otoko Sensei no Tsuma
- Submarine Ro Hasn't Surfaced1954
- The Story of Shunkin1954
- 東京シンデレラ娘1954
- The Golden Demon1954 · as Tose
- A Certain Woman1954 · as Tome
- Koina no Ginpei1954
- The Wild Geese1953 · as Otsune
- Brother and Sister1953 · as Riki - the Mother
- Bot-chan1953 · as Kiyo
- An Heir's Place1953
- Hiren tsubaki1953
- Where Chimneys Are Seen1953 · as Kayo Nojima
- Kanpai! Tokyo Musume1952
- Oka wa hanazakari1952
- Ikiru1952 · as Tatsu Watanabe
- Lightning1952 · as Osei
- 母子鶴1952 · as Onao
- Shi no machi wo nogarete1952
- A Ripple in a Morning1952
- 母山彦1952
- Wedding March1951 · as Auntie
- The Life of a Horse Trader1951 · as Onobu
- Repast1951 · as Taniguchi Shige
- Hibari no komoriuta1951
- Golden Beast1950 · as Connie Sonobe's mother
- Portrait of Madame Yuki1950 · as San
- A Mother's Love1950
- Snow-Flake1950
- Duel in the Sun1950 · as Boarding house landlady
- Koga Manshion1949
- Akireta musumetachi1949
- Ginza Cancan Girls1949
- The Rainbow Man1949 · as Kane Nonomura
- Hills of a Foreign Country1949 · as Iku
- Nocturnal Gate1948
- Women of the Night1948 · as Brothel Keeper
- The Little Green Box1947
- The 99th Bride1947
- Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu1947
- A Face Glowing at Night1946
- Aru yo no seppun1946 · as Takako
- 瓢箪から出た駒1946
- Iku-san ga1946
- Who Is the Criminal?1945
- Saigo no kikyō1945
- The Man From Chungking1943 · as 妻とよ
- The Tiger of Malaya1943 · as Tomi
- New Snow1942
- Passion to Soar1941
- Ie naki musume1939
- Ah, My Hometown1938
- The Straits of Love and Hate1937 · as Ume
- Tsuki yori no shisha1934
- The Feast of Gion1933
- The Water Magician1933 · as Ogin
- Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen1931
- The 26 Martyrs of Japan1931 · as Ohisa, Mother of Antonio
- And Yet They Go On1931
- Mistress of a Foreigner1930 · as Omatsu
- Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue1927 · as Otoku
- 日輪 前篇1926
- Osumi and Her Mother1924
- Moken no himitsu1924
- Seisaku no tsuma1924
All TV Shows (2)
- White Runway1974
- Kininaru Yomesan1971