Nakamura Kichiemon I (初代中村吉右衛門) (actor 03/24/1886 – 09/05/1954)
Shūzan (poetry name)Links
Biography:
This actor held this name from 1897 to July 1954. There was a previous line of actors that called themselves Nakamura Kichiemon I & II. However, they died out in the second decade of the 19th century.
Kichiemon was portrayed in prints by Natori Shunsen in 1925 and 1952. The print in the Lyon Collection showing Kichiemon is by Ōta Masamitsu from the year this actor died in 1954. Yamamura Toyonari made a print of him in 1921.
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Kabuki21 wrote: "Nakamura Kichiemon I was one of the best tachiyaku actors of the twentieth century and had a major influence on Kabuki, helping a lot for the transmission of classic roles, which he had the chance in his prime to closely see performed by stage giants like Ichikawa Danjûrô IX or Ichikawa Danzô VII. He also deviced [sic] himself many kata, which were called Kichiemon kata. His troupe, the Kichiemon Gekidan, was the most active one in post-WW2 Japan."
