Biography
Ikio Sawamura (born Shizuo Okabe; 4 September 1905 – 20 September 1975) was a Japanese actor from Tochigi Prefecture. He made his stage debut in 1921 at the Imperial Theatre as a disciple of the seventh Sawamura Sōjūrō and later performed with troupes including Zenshinza and Moulin Rouge Shinjuku-za before entering film in the early 1950s.
He joined Toho in 1954 and appeared in more than 130 films, often in supporting or bit parts. Among his credits are roles in Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958), Yojimbo (1961) as the constable Hansuke, High and Low (1963) and Red Beard (1965), as well as numerous Toho tokusatsu and kaiju productions such as King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) and Destroy All Monsters (1968).
