Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba, a martial arts icon and star of “Kill Bill” and “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo” fame, died from COVID-19 complications on Thursday. He was 82.
Chiba’s passing at a hospital in the Japanese city of Kimitsu was confirmed by his agent, Variety reported. The star of the 1974 cult classic “Street Fighter” was reportedly unvaccinated at the time of his death, according to the Daily Mail.
Born Sadaho Maeda in Fukuoka on Jan. 22, 1939, the international actor and fight choreographer with a career spanning more than 60 years is perhaps best-known to American movie audiences for his roles in director Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” as well as Tony Scott’s 1993 cult hit “True Romance,” which Tarantino scripted.
The veteran screen star started his martial arts studies while attending the Nippon Sports Science University in 1957. He is also said to have trained extensively for the 1964 Japanese Olympic Gymnastics Team, until a hip injury from a part-time construction job cost him his gymnastics career, according to his IMDB bio.
However, he went on to apprentice under karate master Masutatsu “Mas” Oyama and earned a first-degree black belt in 1965, Variety reported. He later played Oyama in a trilogy of films: “Champion of Death,” “Karate Bearfighter” and “Karate for Life,” in the late 1970s.
By 1984, Chiba had earned a fourth-degree black belt. He also held black belts in ninjutsu, shorinji kempo, judo, kendo and goju-ryu karate.
Although he was primarily a martial arts action star in hyper-violent films, Chiba reportedly took the craft of acting quite seriously.
“An actor’s body should be full of emotions, whether it is happiness or sorrow, pain or joy, enraged or elated,” he once said in an interview. “You have to express yourself with your whole body. Japanese actors don’t normally do this. What I’m doing as an action star is what every actor should be doing. Action is drama. If we cannot make the audience laugh, smile or cry with us, we are not actors. That may be idealistic — but it’s true.”
His aspirations of excellence did not go unnoticed by critics: In a 1975 New York Times review of his film “Street Fighter,” Chiba the “newcomer” was hailed as “a stocky, muscular type, who has mastered a combination of Chinese boxing and the grunts, groans, grim stares and balletic hands-and-feet mayhem of karate.”
In Tarantino’s “Kill Bill Volume 1,” Chiba stole scenes the legendary Hattori Hanzo, a retired swordsman who crafts an iconic blade for Uma Thurman’s vengeful “Bride” character. He also co-starred opposite Vin Diesel in “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” as Kamata, a Yakuza boss and uncle of the franchise film’s primary antagonist Takashi (Brian Tee).
While promoting his 2014 action thriller “John Wick,” Keanu Reeves was surprised by a visit from Chiba during an interview.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Wow,” said Reeves upon meeting him, calling him “maestro” and “number one.”
“Character and action, you brought together,” Reeves said during a brief conversation with his action idol. “Very tough … There was always heart to them. You would mix them, you know?”
His final credited role — in Ryuji Yamakita’s “Bond of Justice: Kizuna” — is tentatively scheduled to premiere in theaters on Oct. 1.
This post first appeared on Nypost.com
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