Sonny Chiba, who has been recognized as one of the greatest martial arts film stars of all time, sadly passed away at the age of 82…
“Who is Sonny Chiba? He’s bar none the finest actor working in martial arts movies today!”
Those are the words spoken by Christian Slater in the opening scene for the film “True Romance” as he prepares to spend his birthday watching a Sonny Chiba triple feature.
Sadly the legendary star of movies such as “Street Fighter” as well as Quentin Tarantino’s film “Kill Bill” passed away this week at age 82.
According to multiple reports, Chiba passed away due to complications from COVID-19.
An athlete all his life, Chiba — born Sadaho Maeda — took up karate while he was in college and he eventually earned his black belt in 1965. It was around this same time that Chiba got interested in acting and he started booking roles in various films and television shows but he didn’t star in his first martial arts film until 1973.
One year later, Chiba booked the lead role in “Street Fighter,” which became a cult-classic in the United States after it was released with an ‘X’ rating due to excessive violence.
Chiba would go onto star in numerous other martial arts movies over the years including several “Street Fighter” sequel as well as a trio of films where he portrayed Masatatsu Oyama, who was his karate instructor when he first took up the art.
In 2003, Chiba starred in “Kill Bill” as master sword maker Hattori Hanzo, who crafts the weapon used by Uma Thurman’s character to go on a mission of bloody revenge against all those who wronged her.
Tarantino was a lifelong fan of Chiba, which is why he paid homage to him in the script for “True Romance” before finally getting the opportunity to work with him in “Kill Bill.”
He remained an active actor for the past few years including a role in the movie “Bond of Justice: Kizuna,” which will serve as the final part of his legendary career.
