Quick Facts
Biography
Jirō Sakagami (坂上二郎) (16 April 1934 – 10 March 2011) was a Japanese comedian, actor, and singer.
Career
Sakagami was born in Kagoshima Prefecture but spent most of his childhood in Manchukuo. Winning an NHK song contest at age 19, he headed to Tokyo to try to make a name in the entertainment business, eventually training as a comedian at the Asakusa strip clubs. It was there that he met Kin'ichi Hagimoto and in 1966, the two formed the owarai duo Konto 55-gō. Konto 55-gō became nationally famous, starring in several top-rated shows on television. Sakagami continued to release songs and branched out into acting, appearing in television dramas as well as in films such as Nagisa Ōshima's Taboo.
He died of a stroke on 10 March 2011 at a Tochigi Prefecture hospital.
Selected filmography
- Konto 55-gō jinrui no daijakuten (コント55号 人類の大弱点) (1969)
- Konto 55-gō uchū no daibōken (コント55号 宇宙大冒険) (1969)
- Amagigoe (天城越え Amagigoe) (1983)
- A Class to Remember (学校 Gakko) (1993)
- Taboo (御法度 Gohatto) (1999)