Biography
Daisuke Ban (伴 大介), also credited under names including 伴 直弥 and 斎藤 清憲, is a Japanese actor. He was born on 5 May 1947 in Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan, and graduated from Saitama-Ken Senior High School.
Ban made his acting debut in 1971 and gained prominence as Jiro / Kikaider in the 1972 television series Android Kikaider. He later appeared in other tokusatsu series including Inazuman, Ninja Captor and Choujuu Sentai Liveman (as Doctor Hoshi). He is also known for portraying Dr. Heihachirô Ikuma in the films Ring (1998), Ring 2 (1999), The Spiral (1998) and Ring 0 (2000). Ban published an autobiography in 2001.
