Born Oda Goichi, Takakura became famous for his brooding, stoic portrayals of yakuza, samurai and detectives. Among his most famous films are Brutal Tales of Chivalry (Showa Zankyo-den, 1965), Abashiri Prison (Abashiri Bangaichi, 1965) and Too Late The Hero (1970). He worked with Yamada Yoji in 1977's brilliant road movie The Yellow Handkerchief, as well as in big budget action films such as The Bullet Train and Kurahara Kureyoshi's heartbreaking tale of huskies stranded on the South Pole, Antarctica (1983).
His other notable Hollywood roles include appearing opposite Robert Mitchum in Sydney Pollack's The Yakuza, and with Tom Selleck in 1992's Mr. Baseball. Takakura appeared, to great acclaim, in Chinese director Zhang Yimou's 2005 drama Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles. His final role was in Furuhata Yasuo's 2012 film Dearest (Anata e).
Cause of death was from a malignant lymphoma. He died in Tokyo on 10 November, with the news only being released publicly this morning. Takakura Ken was 83 years old.