Shinichi Chiba (Japanese: 千葉 真一, Hepburn: Chiba Shin'ichi, born Sadaho Maeda; 23 January 1939 – 19 August 2021), known internationally as Sonny Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist.[1] Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience.[2][3]
Born in Fukuoka, Chiba played a variety of sports in high school, including baseball and volleyball. He also practiced gymnastics and participated at the National Sports Festival of Japan in his third year. When he was a university student, he learned martial arts, earning a black belt in Kyokushin Karate in 1965 and later receiving a fourth degree in 1984.
Chiba's career began in the 1960s, when he starred in two tokusatsu superhero shows. In his first role, he replaced Susumu Wajima as the main character Kōtarō Ran/Seven Color Mask in Seven Color Mask (Nana-iro Kamen) in the second half of the series. However, his breakthrough role was in the 1974 film The Street Fighter. Before retiring, Chiba had also appeared in a number of English language American films, including Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Fast & Furious 3: Tokyo Drift (2006).
Chiba died of COVID-19 complications at the hospital in Tokyo on 19 August 2021, at the age of 82.
^Cite error: The named reference Variety obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Honke Bruce Lee wo shinogu Chiba Shinichi" [Shinichi Chiba surpasses Bruce Lee as the movie star of martial arts]. Sports Hochi (in Japanese). Tokyo. 27 December 1974.
Shinichi Chiba (Japanese: 千葉 真一, Hepburn: Chiba Shin'ichi, born Sadaho Maeda; 23 January 1939 – 19 August 2021), known internationally as SonnyChiba, was...
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action thriller film directed by Junya Satō and starring Ken Takakura, SonnyChiba, and Ken Utsui.[failed verification] When a Shinkansen ("bullet train")...
was inspired to be an actress at the age five by seeing her parents (SonnyChiba and Yōko Nogiwa) on sets and stage. While she was in school, she took...
'Remains: Beautiful Heroes') is a 1990 Japanese disaster film directed by SonnyChiba. It is the 20th anniversary commemorative work of Japan Action Enterprise...
yakuza film Game of Chance (浪曲子守唄) starring Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba, reprising his role as Chiba's character's son in two sequels released the following...
karate film directed by Yutaka Kohira. The film opens with Isshin Higaki (SonnyChiba) and his daughter Yumi Higaki (Etsuko Shihomi) being attacked by a rival...
directed by Kern Saxton and starring Tony Todd, Mark Hamill, Noah Hathaway, SonnyChiba and Cortney Palm. Tony Todd also served as an executive producer. It...
Bodyguard Kiba (ボディガード牙) is a 1973 Japanese martial arts film starring SonnyChiba. It is based on an action manga by Ikki Kajiwara. A recut version was...
actor SonnyChiba. SonnyChiba as Mas Oyama Yumi Takigawa as Chiako Mikio Narita as Nakasone Katsumasa Uchida Kenji Imai Nenji Kobayashi Jirō Chiba as Shogo...
breaks into the drug lord's compound with the help of Seiichi Hibiki (SonnyChiba) and other members of the Shorinji Kempo dojo. After all of his minions...
Satomi Asahi Kurizuka Hiroki Matsukata Masakazu Tamura Kin'ya Kitaōji SonnyChiba Hideki Takahashi Ken Matsudaira Star Wars creator George Lucas has admitted...
dark fantasy film written and directed by Kinji Fukasaku and starring SonnyChiba, Kenji Sawada, and Hiroyuki Sanada. It is based on the novel of the same...
is a 1961 superhero film produced by Toei Company Ltd. The film stars SonnyChiba as Iron Sharp (called Space Chief in the U.S. version). The film was...
Kingdom as Blood of the Dragon is a 1974 martial arts film which stars SonnyChiba, Yōko Ichiji and Masashi Ishibashi. It is the sequel of The Street Fighter...
Nakao as Matsunaga Danjo Jun Miho as Isaribi Seizo Fukumoto as Sensei SonnyChiba as Yagyū Shinzaemon Strong Kobayashi as Kongobo "伊賀忍法帖". TBS. Retrieved...
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