Kayama Yuzo

Other Name: 加山雄三

Age: 87

Birthday: April 11, 1937

Nationality: Japanese

Gender: Male

Kayama Yuzo is the son of one of one of Japan's biggest male stars of the 1930s, 'Ken Uehara'. The handsome and likeable Yuzo Kayama became one of Japan's biggest male stars of the 1960s. And just as Uehara embodied the idea of a modern Japanese wartime hero, Kayama became symbolic of postwar Japanese affluence and confidence, most famously in his title role in the 17 original "Young Guy" movies for his father's home studio, Toho. A popular singer as well as an actor, Kayama specialized in romantic comedies that encouraged him to break spontaneously into song, as showcased even in movies where he wasn't playing the Young Guy, such as "Oyome ni Oide" (1966). Though like his father, he also starred in some of Toho's war films, and crime and action thrillers, such as his debut "Otoko tai Otoko" (1960), he largely bypassed serious dramas until Akira Kurosawa tapped him for the lead alongside 'Toshiro Mifune' in Barberousse (1965), the two-year shoot of which Kayama found the most difficult experience of his life, but which also yielded the work of which he is proudest. Other than a single return to the Young Guy character, "Kaettekita Wakadaisho" (1981), ten years after leaving the series, Kayama, also like his father, in later years moved towards playing a series of kindly authority figures, while still maintaining his romantic appeal to nostalgic audiences with musical appearances on the stage and on television. He has overcome many challenges during his long life - the burning down of his ship 'Mitsunori Maru' as well as suffering a compression fracture in his hip, a stroke, and a cerebral hemorrhage. On June 21, 2022, he announced that he would retire from stage after his concert aboard the luxury liner Asuka II in December 2022..