Keiko Awaji

Born

1933-07-17

Died

2014-01-11

Birthplace

Tokyo, Japan

Biography

Keiko Awaji (17 July 1933 – 11 January 2014) was a Japanese actress. Notable highlights of her career include Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog and Mark Robson's The Bridges at Toko-Ri, where she appeared alongside William Holden and Mickey Rooney. Her first husband was Filipino musician and actor Rodrigo "Bimbo" Danao; they had two children together. Their eldest is actor Etsuo Shima. Her second husband was Japanese actor Kinnosuke Nakamura (also known as Kinnosuke Yorozuya); they divorced in 1987. Their eldest son Akihiro died in a car crash in 1990. In 2004, their youngest son Kichinosuke Yorozuya (Satoshi Ida) was arrested for breaking into her home and served six months in prison. On June 16, 2010, Kichinosuke committed suicide by jumping off his apartment in Shinjuku. She died of esophageal cancer in Tokyo on 11 January 2014, aged 80.