Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Ultraman Taro's Toyoyuki Kimura Passes Away at Age 71

Toyoyuki Kimura poses with Ultraman Taro in November 2017. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

According to his What Is Youth? (1965-66) co-star Yumi Mizusawa, actor Toyoyuki Kimura, who played ZAT member Tadao Nambara on Tsuburaya Productions' Ultraman Taro (1973-74), has passed away at age 71. Prior to his role on Ultraman Taro, Mr. Kimura acted in several Toho movies during the 1960s and '70s, especially ones directed by Kihachi Okamoto, namely Fort Graveyard (1965), Epoch of Murder Madness (1967), Red Lion (1969), and Battle of Okinawa (1971).He can also be seen in The Crazy Cats' Big Explosion (1969), which was Teruyoshi Nakano's first work as special effects director.

Series writer Shigemitsu Taguchi (left) poses with Toyoyuki Kimura at an event promoting the release of Ultraman Taro on Blu-ray in Japan. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Kimura at a signing event in November 2017 and had a pleasant chat with him. 

No other details are available at this time. 

Rest in peace, Mr. Kimura.

UPDATE (4/9): According to his Japanese Wikipedia page, Mr. Kimura passed away on April 3. However, there is still no cause of death given.

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