Michiko Kuwano (桑野通子, Kuwano Michiko, 4 January 1915 – 1 April 1946) was a Japanese film actress.[1][2][3]
Biography
Michiko Kuwano in 1936.
Michiko Kuwano was born on (1915-01-04)January 4, 1915 in the former municipality of Shiba-ku, which is now located in the Minato ward in Tokyo.[4] Her father was a chef, and her mother died when she was four years old.[5]
She joined Shōchiku in 1934[5] and made her first film with Hiroshi Shimizu, a director with whom she collaborated numerous times.
She gave birth in 1942 to Miyuki Kuwano, who would later become an actress.
On (1946-03-29)March 29, 1946, she fainted during the filming of Victory of Women by Kenji Mizoguchi.[5] She died on (1946-04-01)April 1, 1946 from complications of a hemorrhage due to an ectopic pregnancy at the age of 31.[5]
Michiko Kuwano appeared in nearly 90 films for Shōchiku between 1934 and 1946.[6]
Career
Kuwano was born in Shiba ward, Tokyo.[7] After graduating from Mita High School in 1932, she first worked as a "sweets girl" for Morinaga & Company before entering the Shochiku film studios in 1934, where she gave her debut in Hiroshi Shimizu's Eclipse.[1][3] In addition to many films directed by Shimizu, she starred in films by Yasujirō Ozu and Yasujirō Shimazu. In 1946, she collapsed on the set of Kenji Mizoguchi's Victory of Women.[1] She is the mother of actress Miyuki Kuwano.[1]
