Kumi Mizuno

Kumi Mizuno (水野久美, Mizuno Kumi, born 1 January 1937[1]) is a Japanese actress, most famous for appearing in several Toho kaiju films of the 1960s and early 1970s.[2]

Kumi Mizuno
水野久美
Born
Maya Igarashi (五十嵐 麻耶)

(1937-01-01) January 1, 1937
Niigata, Japan
NationalityJapanese
OccupationActress
Years active1950-present
Notable credit(s)
Invasion of Astro-Monster as Miss Namikawa,
Frankenstein Conquers the World as Dr. Sueko Togami,
The War of the Gargantuas as Dr. Akemi Togawa
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster as Dayo
Spouse(s)Gaku Yamamoto (1964-1969) (divorced)

Early years

Mizuno was born Maya Igarashi on 1 January 1937 in Sanjō Niigata prefecture, Japan.[3] She was acquainted with Giant Baba, her junior by one year, who is also from Sanjō. She enrolled and eventually graduated from an acting school and began a professional career in film in 1957 in Crazy Society (Shochiku).[4] In 1958 she appeared in Nemuri Kyōshirō: Record of an Outlaw : Demon-blade Hell (Toho).

Career

Her most famous roles include Miss Namikawa in Invasion of Astro-Monster, Dr. Sueko Togami in Frankenstein Conquers the World, and the island girl Dayo in Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster. She is also known for her role as Azami in the 1959 epic The Birth of Japan. By the time she started working on A Bridge for Us Alone (1958), her second movie, her name had changed to Kumi Mizuno. Mizuno first worked with director Ishirō Honda in Seniors, Juniors, Co-Workers in 1959. She would later work with Honda in Attack of the Mushroom People, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Gorath, Invasion of Astro-Monster and The War of the Gargantuas.[4]

In 1991, she played Kanako Yanagawa in Kihachi Okamoto's Rainbow Kids.[5]

Mizuno returned to the kaiju genre for 2002's Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, and again for 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars.

Filmography

Films

Television
  • Segodon (2018), Saigō Takamori's grandmother

References
  1. "Mizuno Kumi". Office PSC. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  2. Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's favorite mon-star: the unauthorized biography of "The Big G". ECW Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-55022-348-4.
  3. "Kumi Mizuno". TohoKingdom.com.
  4. "Cult Sirens: Kumi Mizuno". cultsirens.com.
  5. Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
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