Furukawa Roppa

Other Name: 古川ロッパ

Age: 121

Birthday: August 13, 1903

Nationality: Japanese

Gender: Male

Furukawa Roppa was a Japanese comedian. He was born the sixth son of Baron Kato Terumaro, making him the grandson of Baron Kato Hiroyuki. The family custom, however, was to have the younger sons adopted by related families, so Furukawa was adopted by his father's sister and her husband, Furukawa Taketaro. He began attending Waseda University, but left before graduating in order to become a film critic and magazine editor. He was quite skilled at voice impersonation and eventually decided to become a professional comedian, forming in 1933 the comedy troupe "Warai no Tengoku" (Laughter Heaven) with Tokugawa Musei. He joined Toho in 1935 and, starring in stage revues and films, became nearly as popular as the other prewar comedic great, Enomoto Kenichi Enomoto. His film work included many comedies, musicals, and a popular set of films co-starring Hasegawa Kazuo. After the war, his career went into decline as he began to suffer from various ailments, but he remained popular on radio. A skilled writer, his diaries were published to much acclaim before he died. (Source: Wikipedia).