Kazuo Kumakura (熊倉 一雄) was a Japanese actor, voice actor, and theatre director. He was the head of the Theatre Echo agency at the time of his death.

Biography

Kazuo Kumakura was born in the Azabu district of Minato, Tokyo on January 30, 1927. In 1956, he joined the Theatre Echo theatre group. From 1957, he became the Japanese voice of Alfred Hitchcock in Nippon TV's TV broadcasts of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and from 1989, he played the voice of Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's Poirot. He died of rectal cancer on October 12, 2015, at a hospital in Tokyo, at the age of 88.

Filmography

Puppet show

Television animation

Theatrical animation

Video games

Dubbing roles

Live-action

Puppet show

Animation

Japanese Voiceover

Radio

Songs

Awards

Kumakura received the 1998 Kinokuniya theater award for his performance in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. In 2011, he won the selection committee's special award at the Yomiuri Theatrical Grand Awards.

Honours