Post by teleadm on Aug 19, 2021 17:36:55 GMT
Japanese actor and martial artist Sonny Shiba (千葉 真一) has left us at the age of 82, on August 19th. (COVID-19 complications)
He was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience.
His breakthrough international hit was The Street Fighter 1974 which was brought to Western audiences (dubbed in English) by New Line Cinema. The film and its sequels established him as the reigning Japanese martial arts actor in international cinema for the next two decades. It was New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye who gave Chiba the English name "Sonny", which he would adopt as his own (mostly for non-Japanese projects) from that point on.
He acted in over 200 movies and television productions between 1959 and 2018.
He is remembered by Variety
R.I.P. Sonny Chiba
He was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience.
His breakthrough international hit was The Street Fighter 1974 which was brought to Western audiences (dubbed in English) by New Line Cinema. The film and its sequels established him as the reigning Japanese martial arts actor in international cinema for the next two decades. It was New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye who gave Chiba the English name "Sonny", which he would adopt as his own (mostly for non-Japanese projects) from that point on.
He acted in over 200 movies and television productions between 1959 and 2018.
He is remembered by Variety
R.I.P. Sonny Chiba