Kato Daisuke, whose real name was Kato Tokunosuke (加藤徳之), was a Japanese actor born in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. He graduated from Tokyo Prefectural Seventh Junior High School and began his career as a kabuki actor before transitioning to film.

His father, Takejima Denzo, was a playwright and assistant director at the Miyato Theater, and his family was deeply rooted in the performing arts. His brother, Sawamura Kunitaro (fourth generation), and sisters, Yajima Seiko and Sawamura Sadako, were also involved in acting and welfare activities. His nephew was actor Nagato Hiroshi. Kato’s son, Kato Haruyuki, married Kurosawa Kazuko, daughter of Kurosawa Akira, with whom he had a son, Kato Takayuki, also an actor. They later divorced.

Following his father’s wish for all his children to become actors, Kato and his brother entered kabuki in 1929. In 1933, he joined the Zenshinza theater company and made his film debut in "Dan Shichishigure". That same year, he completed military service as a corporal but was recalled in 1943 to serve in the New Guinea campaign, where he organized theatrical performances for soldiers. During his service, he contracted malaria, which recurred after his discharge in 1946.

Post-war, Kato left the Zenshinza theater due to ideological differences and co-founded the Kamigiza theater company with his siblings. After the company struggled, he shifted focus to film, signing with Daiei Kyoto Studios in 1948. He became a freelancer in 1951 before joining Toho Studios and briefly returning to Zenshinza in 1971 after a 28-year absence.

Kato continued acting despite being hospitalized with colon cancer in February 1975. He passed away on July 31, 1975, at the age of 64.

(Source: MyDramaList) Edit Biography