Biography
Yūsaku Matsuda was a Japanese actor. Born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, he began acting in theatre after high school and made his screen debut in 1973. He first gained prominence in television, notably as a rookie police officer in the long-running series Taiyō ni Hoero! (1972) and as the lead in Tantei Monogatari (1979).
In films, he appeared in action roles during the 1970s and took on a wider range of parts in the 1980s. He received the Hochi Film Award for Best Actor for his performances in Detective Story (1983) and The Family Game (1983). His final film role was as the villain Sato in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989). Matsuda died of bladder cancer in November 1989, aged 40.
