A::
Born on May 16, 1942, Isao Sasaki was called "As harmonious
as [Elvis] Presley" by Columbia Records when he made
his debut as a Rockabilly singer in 1960. He made his feature
film debut in the Nagisa Oshima's ground-breaking THE SUN'S
BURIAL (Taiyo-no Hakaba), and was held under an exclusive
acting contract with Shochiku Motion Picture Company.
Afterwards, Sasaki branched
out to stage dramas and musicals and continued with his
recording career. He shot into fame again with his famous
theme song for the hit anime SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO (Uchusenkan
Yamato). Sasaki then branced out into speciality songs,
dinner shows, radio, hotel spectaculars, lectures and other
special events. Today, he participates in a wide variety
of productions as a singer, performer, voice actor, master
of ceremonies, chairman, writer, and reporter.
In 1963, Sasaki made his
stage debut in "Not Everyone Will Make It" (Soshite
Dare-mo Nakunatta). He continues to appear in musicals or
dramatic stage productions, from "The Sound of Music"
to "Cinderella," and his most recent dramatic
show was "The Women's Banquet," in 2001.
Among his regular television
roles was the ill-fated YOJUTSU BUGEICHO in 1969, a supernatural-flavored
Tokusatsu Samurai series, which was cancelled after three
months. His more well-received roles were as "Loyal
Retainer Hojo" in TV Asahi's Period Drama LADIES AND
GENTLEMEN PUPILS" in 1980-1981. His most recent was
as "Loyal Retainer Hosokawa" in NHK's Taiga Drama
THE THREE GENERATIONS OF TOKUGAWA in 2000.
As a voice actor, he has
provided the Japanese speaking voice for a number of American
and Japanese films and televison shows. The American dubbed
films Sasaki has dubbed for television include: Alan Ladd
(SHANE), Christopher Reeves (SUPERMAN I-IV, etc.), Sly Stalone
(RAMBO, ROCKY, COBRA, THE SPECIALIST, etc.), David Hasslehoff
(KNIGHT RIDER, etc.), Dick Van Dyke (CHITTY CHITTY BANG
BANG), etc.
Among the Japanese titles,
Sasaki intoned the anime characters of "Joe Asakura"
(SCIENCE NINJA TEAM: GATCHAMAN I, II, FIGHTER, and THE MOVIE),
"Duke Freed" (FLYING SAUCER WAR), "Georges
Marseilles" (LUPIN III Episode #10 "Steal File
M123"), "Hajime Saito" (FAREWELL SPACE BATTLESHIP
YAMATO and SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO 2), "Daisuke Shima"
(SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO: FINAL CHAPTER), "Panja"
(JUNGLE EMPEROR), etc.
His superhero television
appearances include Episode #81 of KAMEN RIDER (broadcast
10/14/1972), "Kamen Rider You Only Live Twice!!"
(Kamen Raida-wa Niwa Shinme!!), playing escaped Shocker
scientist "Shintaro Mine." Sasaki also appeared
as a regular character, cameraman Ken'ichiro Nanbara, in
Episodes 19 through 46 of MONSTER INVESTIGATOR: JUSPION
(Kyoju Tokuso Jaspion, 1985-1986).
August
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