Sonny Chiba arrives at the Ziegfeld theatre in New York to attend the “Kill Bill, Vol. 1” premiere on Oct. 7, 2003.
NICOLAS KHAYAT/ABACA PRESS
Sonny Chiba, the famed Japanese actor and martial artist known for his work in “The Street Fighter” and “Kill Bill,” has died. He was 82.
Newsweek reported that Chiba was battling COVID-19 before he was admitted into the Kimitsu hospital in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture. The report said he “developed pneumonia as he battled the virus, and ultimately didn’t recover, passing away on Thursday.”
Born Sadaho Maeda in Fukuoka, Japan, Chiba was an athlete at a young age before studying martial arts in college. His acting career began in the 1960s, appearing in television shows and films like “Seven Color Mask,” “Messenger of Allah” and “Invasion of the Neptune Men.”
He rose to international fame with the 1974 cult classic “The Street Fighter,” parlaying that popularity into a successful stint as a martial arts action hero. He would later appear in films like “The Bullet Train,” “Karate Warriors,” “Shogun Samurai,” “Shadow Warriors” and many more.
Chiba regained worldwide fame in 2003 when he co-starred in Quentin Tarantino’s revenge epic “Kill Bill, Vol. 1,” playing samurai swordsmith (and sushi chef) Hattori Hanzo, a character name he shared in “Shadow Warriors.” In the film, Chiba reluctantly assists Uma Thurman’s Bride in forging a sword to vanquish her “vermin,” better known as Bill. Chiba showed warmth and comic timing in his initial scene with Thurman before switching to a deathly serious tone after crafting the sword.
Chiba also appeared in 2006′s “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.”
