Kumeko Urabe
Acting
Born October 5, 1902, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
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.
Filmography
- 1987Hachiko — Tobacco Shop Owner
- 1985Checkers in Tan Tan tanuki
- 1985Lonely Heart — Fuki Inoue
- 1984Lovely Days — Old lady
- 1984The Cold-Hearted Sea
- 1980Before Spring — Toyo
- 1976Tora-san's Pure Love
- White Runway
- 1973Stray Dog
- 1972Onna Ikitemasu: Sakariba Wataridori — Tsue
- 1971Adults Games
- Kininaru Yomesan
- 1971The Secret Ceremony
- 1970The Final Gamble
- 1970Wicked Priest 4: The Killer Priest Comes Back
- 1970喜劇 右向けェ左!
- 1969Girl in College
- 1969River Of Love
- 1969Season of Tears
- 1969The Bad Guy Blues
- 1969Twenty-One Concubines: The Life of a Pervert
- 1968I Sell My Husband
- 1967Eyes, the Sea and a Ball
- 1967Flower Cards Chivalry
- 1967Happiness For You — Sentimental Boy
- 1967Two in the Shadow
- 1967Yanagase Blues — Kane Sasagawa
- 1966Four and A Half Mats — Riku
- 1966Game of Chance — Sugi
- 1966Moment of Terror — Hisako Kanematsu
- 1966Nocturnal Lights
- 1966The Pretty Jade
- 1966Women Doing Time
- 1965An Innocent Witch
- 1965Chained Bitch
- 1965Color
- 1965Dupe
- 1965Secret Club 000
- 1965The Passionate Spinster — Tokiko Tsurukawa
- 1964Destroyer Yukikaze
- 1964Jakoman and Tetsu — Taka
- 1964Night Scandal — Shino
- 1964Yearning — Bar Madam
- 196318 Roughs — Gin Ishii
- 1963Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp
- 1963Teinen Taishoku
- 1963Uogashi no senpū musume
- 1963We Are Salarymen — Shizuko Komuro (Eiichiro’s Mother)
- 1962Being Two Isn't Easy — Ino
- 1962Eriko — Oshima
- 1962Gakusei geisha koi to kenka
- 1962Haru no sanmyaku
- 1962Irresponsible Rascal of Japan
- 1962Kono ni uruwashi
- 1962Koshū
- 1962Kyū-chan ondo
- 1962Night Mist Makes Women Cry — Yoshi Namikawa
- 1962Nippon no obaachan — Waka
- 1962Parakin to Kyū-chan mōshiwakenai yarō-tachi
- 1962Teppo Yasu no Shogai
- 1962The Body
- 1962The Broken Commandment — Owner of the hotel
- 1962The Salaryman's Carefree Life: What a Relaxed Job This Is!
- 1961Ganpā kachō
- 1961Love and the Shop Curtain
- 1961Love's Family Tree
- 1961Refresher Course for Wives
- 1960A Woman's Testament
- 1960Irohanihoheto
- 1960Scarred Yosaburo
- 1960Storm on the Silvery Peaks — Old woman
- 1960The Legendary Hell — Osumi
- 1960The Song Lantern
- 1960The Woman Who Touched Legs
- 1960Tsukinode no ketto — Otani
- 1960Victory and Defeat — Sato
- 1960When a Woman Loves — Otome
- 1960White Cliffs
- 1959Blind Love
- 1959Diary of a Substitute Doctor
- 1959Floating Weeds — Shige
- 1959Goodbye, Hello — Restaurant owner
- 1959Hear My Mother's Cry
- 1959Romance of a Ferry Man
- 1959The Makioka Sisters
- 1959The Song of the Cart
- 1959Tokyo Omnibus
- 1958A Bridge for Two Alone
- 1958A Grain of Wheat
- 1958Confronting Fear
- 1958Flower's Yearning — Muraki Sawa
- 1958Hibi no haishin
- 1958Mother
- 1958Okesa karasu
- 1958Stakeout — Proprietress of the Hotel Hizen-ya
- 1958The Cat Knew
- 1958The Precipice
- 1958Tokyo Eyes
- 1958Yurakucho 0 Street — Mother of A 16号
- 1957Chūzaisho nikki
- 1957Elegy of the North — Grandma
- 1957Fighting Letter for 29 People
- 1957Inazuma Kaidō
- 1957Itohan Monogatari — Okô
- 1957Monkey Business — Yone
- 1957Snow Country
- 1957Tokyo Twilight — Komatsu's Mistress
- 1957Typhoon Over Nagasaki
- 1957Young Lovers
- 1957続二等兵物語 決戦体制の巻
- 1956Asashio yushio
- 1956Bridge of Japan
- 1956Children Seeking a Mother — Older Woman
- 1956Early Spring — Shige Kitagawa
- 1956Headquarters of Crime Detection
- 1956Here It is Quiet
- 1956Horeruna Yanpachi
- 1956Sound in the Mist
- 1956Sound of Youth
- 1956Street of Shame — Otane
- 1956Studio wa ōsawagi
- 1956The Buried Treasure
- 1956The Spoiled Brat President
- 1956Training Ship of Yearning
- 1956Twice on a Certain Night
- 1956Yaneura no Onna-tachi
- 1956俺は死なない
- 1955A Girl Who Delivers Happiness
- 1955A Man Among Men — Okimi
- 1955A Woman's Life — Nobuko's mother
- 1955Fantasy of Youth
- 1955Ginji of the Seven Faces
- 1955House of Many Pleasures — Masa
- 1955I Was Tokichiro
- 1955Rōkyoku tengu dōjō
- 1955She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum — Grandmother
- 1955Shichinin no ani imōto
- 1955Tenka o nerau bishōnen
- 1955The Magistrate
- 1955The Refugee
- 1955Tokyo Gang
- 1955Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree — Tomi
- 1955Troupers of Asakusa
- 1955Youth
- 1954A Certain Woman — Tome
- 1954Four Mothers
- 1954Koina no Ginpei
- 1954Shinzōyaburi no oka
- 1954Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky — Shige, Ryoichi's stepmother
- 1954Submarine Ro Hasn't Surfaced
- 1954The Golden Demon — Tose
- 1954The Moon Over the Ruined Castle
- 1954The Story of Shunkin
- 1954Twenty-Four Eyes — Otoko Sensei no Tsuma
- 1954Victory or Defeat
- 1954東京シンデレラ娘
- 1953An Heir's Place
- 1953Asakusa monogatari
- 1953Bot-chan — Kiyo
- 1953Brother and Sister — Riki - the Mother
- 1953Haha no mizūmi
- 1953Hiren tsubaki
- 1953Kettō gofun mae
- 1953Shunsetsu no mon
- 1953The Wild Geese — Otsune
- 1953To the Ends of the Earth
- 1953Where Chimneys Are Seen — Kayo Nojima
- 1952A Ripple in a Morning
- 1952Dokuja-tō kidan: Joōbachi
- 1952Escape from the City of Death
- 1952Forever My Love
- 1952Haha yamahiko
- 1952Hahakozuru — Onao
- 1952Ikiru — Tatsu Watanabe
- 1952Kanpai! Tokyo Musume
- 1952Lightning — Osei
- 1952Mabuta no haha
- 1952Machi no kotengu
- 1952Oka wa hanazakari
- 1952Yobiko hoshi
- 1951Dorei no machi
- 1951Fire Department
- 1951Hibari no komoriuta
- 1951Koi no Oranda-zaka
- 1951Repast — Taniguchi Shige
- 1951The Life of a Horse Trader — Onobu
- 1951Tokyo Elegy
- 1951Wedding March — Auntie
- 1950A Mother's Love
- 1950Duel in the Sun — Boarding house landlady
- 1950Golden Beast — Connie Sonobe's mother
- 1950Portrait of Madame Yuki — San
- 1950Shimai hoshi
- 1950Shinju fujin: Hitozuma no maki
- 1950Shinju fujin: Shojo no maki
- 1950Snow-Flake
- 1950Tsuma mo koisu
- 1949Akireta musumetachi
- 1949Arashi no naka no shimai
- 1949Full Moon
- 1949Ginza Cancan Girls
- 1949Hana no jitsugetsu
- 1949Hills of a Foreign Country — Iku
- 1949Kenji to onnakanshu
- 1949Koga Manshion
- 1949Onna goroshi abura jigoku
- 1949The Rainbow Man — Kane Nonomura
- 1949Three Mothers
- 1948Nocturnal Gate
- 1948Women of the Night — Brothel Keeper
- 1947Female Prisoner #36
- 1947First Love Story
- 1947Koyoi Tsuma to Narinu
- 1947The 99th Bride
- 1947The Little Green Box
- 1946A Face Glowing at Night
- 1946Aru yo no seppun — Takako
- 1946Convent Bride
- 1946Iku-san ga
- 1946Kare to kanojo wa iku
- 1946Kimi ka to omohite
- 1946Machi no ninkisha
- 1946The Monk Who Became a Raccoon Dog
- 1946瓢箪から出た駒
- 1945Saigo no kikyō
- 1945Who Is the Criminal?
- 1943Genghis Khan
- 1943The Man From Chungking — 妻とよ
- 1943The Tiger of Malaya — Tomi
- 1942New Snow
- 1941Passion to Soar
- 1939Ie naki musume
- 1938Ah, My Hometown
- 1937The Straits of Love and Hate — Ume
- 1934Tsuki yori no shisha
- 1933The Feast of Gion
- 1933The Water Magician — Ogin
- 1931And Yet They Go On
- 1931Kokoro no jitsugetsu: Retsujitsu hen - Gekko hen
- 1931The 26 Martyrs of Japan — Ohisa, Mother of Antonio
- 1930Mistress of a Foreigner — Omatsu
- 1927Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue — Otoku
- 1926日輪 前篇
- 1924Moken no himitsu
- 1924Osumi and Her Mother
- 1924Seisaku no tsuma
- Kakute ninjutsu eiga wa owarinu
Appearances as themselves (1)
- 1975Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director — Self