
Person
Miki Odagiri
Acting · 1930–2006 · Sendagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Biography
Miki Odagiri (小田切美喜) was known primarily for her important and timeless role as the upbeat office girl in Akira Kurosawa's classic Ikiru opposite Takashi Shimura, whose character is dying of cancer, and Miki, as Toyo Odagiri, inspires him to live... just by being herself: bubbly, spontaneous, and optimistic. Her character is also filled with blunt sarcasm that was extremely rare in movies of the early-1950's. Perhaps Miki and Takashi's most memorable scene is when she's telling him the nicknames she created for their fellow workmates... including his! Sadly, beyond Ikiru, finding the handful of other Japanese movies she appeared in, especially on DVD or Blu Ray, is extremely difficult. But she left an impression in what's considered not only one of the legendary Kurosawa's greatest achievements, but one of the best movies ever made, worldwide.
Known for

Ikiru
Toyo

Shinran: Path to Purity
1987

When a Woman Loves
Ohana

Burden of Love
Teru

Stakeout
1958

お月様には悪いけど
芸妓小きん

The Street Without Sun
Fusa-chan

The Moon Has Risen
Fumiya

To Your Majesty, The Emperor
1963

Tower of Lilies
1953
Filmography
- 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ikiru'Self
- 1987Shinran: Path to Purity
- 1971Shiosai
- 1963To Your Majesty, The Emperor
- 1962Boku chin hōrō-ki
- 1960The Last Trump CardToyo
- 1960When a Woman LovesOhana
- 1958Monthly Salary: 13,000 Yen
- 1958Stakeout
- 1956Nikoyon monogatari
- 1956Pure Emotions of the SeaYumiko
- 1955The MotherlessMiyoko
- 1955Policeman's Diary, Part 2
- 1955Duel at SundownOkatsu
- 1955Burden of LoveTeru
- 1955Striving to Live
- 1955Policeman's DiaryMomoyo
- 1955The Moon Has RisenFumiya
- 1954お月様には悪いけど芸妓小きん
- 1954Women's House
- 1954The Valley Between Love and Death
- 1954Student Double Suicide
- 1954The Street Without SunFusa-chan
- 1954A Certain WomanTsuya
- 1953Zoku zoku Jûdai no seiten
- 1953The Wild GeeseOume
- 1953Zoku jūdai no seitenMisae Numakura
- 1953Jūdai no seiten
- 1953Tower of Lilies
- 1952IkiruToyo
- 1938Pastoral Symphony
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