Ken Utsui

Ken Utsui (宇津井健 , Utsui Ken ) (24 October 1931 – 14 March 2014) was a Japanese actor who worked on stage, film, and television from the 1950s to the 2010s.

Born in Tokyo, Utsui entered the Haiyūza theatre troupe in 1952 and was soon selected to star in the film Seishun no izumi that was produced by Haiyūza. In 1954, he signed a contract with Shintoho and starred in 60 films, including the Super Giant series. He moved to Daiei Film in 1963 and starred in another 52 films. From the mid-1960s, he also began to work on television, starring in many television dramas, especially detective series like The Guardman and Sasurai keiji junjōhen and some installments of the Akai series with Momoe Yamaguchi. He died on 14 March 2014 from natural causes at the age of 82.