Takeshi Kaga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Takeshi Kaga (鹿賀 丈史 Kaga Takeshi?, born October 12, 1950) is a well known stage and movie actor in Japan who is probably best known internationally for his portrayal of Chairman Kaga in the Japanese television show Iron Chef produced by Fuji TV. His birth name is Shigekatsu Katsuda (勝田 薫且 Katsuda Shigekatsu?).
[edit] Biography
Kaga was born on October 12, 1950 in the city of Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. His first experience on stage was at the age of seven when he joined the Kanazawa City Boys choral group.
In 1972, he joined the Japanese theatrical company Gekidan Shiki. While with the company, he played the role of Jesus in the Japanese stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar (1976), and role of Tony in West Side Story (1977). In 1980 he left SHIKI to play the role of Sanada in the movie Yajuu Shisubeshi. He starred in several movies throughout the 1980s, but his most famous role would be that of "Chairman Kaga", the eccentric and flamboyant host of Ryōri no Tetsujin, a cooking competition show (1993–1999). It became very popular, not only in Japan, but around the English-speaking world, and is broadcast on the Fine Living network in the United States and on SBS in Australia, under the name Iron Chef. The host of Iron Chef America, Mark Dacascos, is often incorrectly stated to be Takeshi's nephew. The stated relationship is actually between the fictional characters played by the two men.
Despite his international fame with the show, he has not given up his love for musicals. In 1987 he starred in the popular Japanese production of Les Misérables as Jean Valjean and Javert. He reprised his role as Valjean in 1995 as the representative of Japan during the encore of the 10th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables at the Royal Albert Hall in London. During the encore, Valjeans from 17 different countries joined the cast on stage. He also starred in Macbeth in 2000, and in Jekyll and Hyde as well as in The Threepenny Opera in 2001.
He has also lent his voice to Japanese anime. Notably, he voiced Jirarudan, an antagonist, in 1999's Pokémon the Movie - Revelation Lugia, the second Pokémon movie, and also sung his theme song, "Ware Wa Collector." He also notably voiced Dr. Kiriko in 2005's Black Jack: The Two Doctors of Darkness.
After Iron Chef ended, he returned to acting in movies and dramas. He also hosted Time Shock 21, a quiz show on Asahi Television in Japan. In 2005, Kaga performed as the lead in the Japanese production of Michael Frayn's Democracy and starred in the blockbuster film Sengoku Jieitai 1549. Kaga also appeared in both installments of the highly successful Death Note film series.
His most recent role, as of December 2007, is that of Emperor Kinkaku (King of the Golden Horn) in the film adaptation of the TV series Saiyūki. He also provided the voice for Golbez in the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV.
