Kaga Takeshi

Age: 74

Birthday: October 12, 1950

Nationality: Japanese

Gender: Male

Kaga Takeshi 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 real name is Katsuta Shigekatsu. Kaga was born 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 the role of Tony in West Side Story. In 1980, he left SHIKI to play the role of Sanada in the movie Yaju 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 Ryori no Tetsujin, a cooking competition show (1993-1999). It became very popular, not only in Japan but around the English-speaking world. 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 Miserables 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 Miserables 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. In 2009, he starred in a Japanese language version of La Cage aux Folles. He has also lent his voice to Japanese anime. Notably, he voiced Jirarudan, an antagonist, in 1999's Pokemon the Movie - Revelation Lugia, the second Pokemon 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 as Soichiro Yagami. 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 Saiyuki. He also provided the voice for Golbez in the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV and has reprised the same role in Dissidia: Final Fantasy for the PSP. He is also the Official Japanese voice actor for Teridax in Japanese Bionicle Media as of 2004. (Source: Wikipedia).

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