Eiji Kusuhara

Acting

Eiji Kusuhara

Born — Died

1947-01-02 — 2010-04-23

Place of birth

Tokio, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

39 titles

The Japanese actor Eiji Kusuhara played the sadistic Lieutenant Sato in the television series Tenko (1981-85), was one of the narrators on the cult show Banzai (2001) and appeared on stages across the UK and Europe in a variety of beguiling roles. He was one of the first professional Japanese actors active in London in the 1970s and enjoyed something of a monopoly on roles until he starred alongside a fellow countryman, Togo Igawa, in The Man Who Shot Christmas (1984). Eiji spent most of his adult life in Britain.

Known for

Screen Two poster
7.1

Series of single made-for-television dramas.

Screen Two

1985

Hustle poster
7.7

A motley group of London con artists pull of a series of daring and intricate stings.

Hustle

2004

Eyes Wide Shut poster
7.5

After Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexual group and attends one of their meetings -- and quickly discovers that he is in over his head.

Eyes Wide Shut

1999

Return of the Jedi poster
7.9

Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.

Return of the Jedi

1983

Lovejoy poster
7.4

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.

Lovejoy

1986

Are You Being Served? poster
7.3

This comedy series, which follows the exploits of employees at London's fictional "Grace Brothers" department store, is full of sexual innuendo, slapstick, visual gags, and double entendres. Much of the show's humor parodies Britain's class system, and many of the show's characters are based on stereotypes of the period, including the effeminate Mr. Humphries and the rich, but stingy, store owner.

Are You Being Served?

1972

Film credits

2000s · 4 titles

1990s · 6 titles

Eyes Wide Shut poster
7.5

After Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexual group and attends one of their meetings -- and quickly discovers that he is in over his head.

Eyes Wide Shut

1999

Topsy-Turvy poster
6.6

For nearly a decade, Gilbert and Sullivan’s collaborations have delighted the English people. But in 1884, as a London heat wave cuts into the theater trade, their latest work, "Princess Ida", receives lukewarm press. In an effort to reconcile their creative differences and drawing inspiration from Japanese culture, they went on to create the hit opera "The Mikado", one of the duo's greatest successes.

Topsy-Turvy

1999

Diamond Skulls poster
3.4

Hugo Buckton seems to have it all: He is apparently rich and has a beautiful wife and a doting son. In actuality, though, Hugo is having money problems and is paranoid that his wife is cheating on him. After a boozy night at a party, Hugo hits and kills a woman with his car -- and at his friends' urging, keeps driving. When Hugo starts receiving letters from someone who knows about the accident, he begins to suspect that he has been set up.

Diamond Skulls

1990

No artwork available
8.0

Comedy thriller deals with an arranged marriage.

Gummed Labels

1992

Souvenir poster
9.0

Yoshio, a young Japanese loner travelling through Europe, falls for a flight attendant en route to Barcelona. After a mix-up, Yoshio's red suitcase ends up in the hands of his new crush.

Souvenir

1994

Sticky Wickets poster
NR

It's a big night at the New Dragon Inn when a coach of distinguished Germans arrives. But disaster looms - it's the local cricket team's annual fancy dress bash and the theme is the Second World War.

Sticky Wickets

1990

1980s · 11 titles

Return of the Jedi poster
7.9

Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.

Return of the Jedi

1983

The Elephant Man poster
8.0

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.

The Elephant Man

1980

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace poster
4.6

With global superpowers engaged in an increasingly hostile arms race, Superman leads a crusade to rid the world of nuclear weapons. But Lex Luthor, recently sprung from jail, is declaring war on the Man of Steel and his quest to save the planet. Using a strand of Superman's hair, Luthor synthesizes a powerful ally known as Nuclear Man and ignites an epic battle spanning Earth and space.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

1987

North Sea Hijack poster
6.3

When terrorists take over two oil rigs, and threaten to blow them up if their demands are not met, an eccentric anti-terrorism expert volunteers his unique commando unit to stop them.

North Sea Hijack

1980

The Beginner poster
5.7

Movie fan Mike has invented a machine with which he is able to take part in every movie which is currently running on his video tape recorder. But he and his friend Tommy are watched while trying out this new device and soon two electronic companies are on their trail to discover the secret of this invention.

The Beginner

1985

Quartermaine's Terms poster
7.0

TV adaptation of the play set in a Cambridge School of English for Foreigners in 1962. St John Quartermaine is a rather ineffective but kindly teacher at the school who, becuase of his gentle character, has hardly any enemies - in fact, the rest of the staff confide in him or generally pplay on his good nature. Then Derek Meadle arrives on the scene. He is a new part-time teacher who really wants to be full-time, but people like Quartermaine are in the way.

Quartermaine's Terms

1987

No artwork available
10.0

A Christmas story set in contemporary London, about a woman, Debbie, who feels threatened by her husband, Koji, the Japanese gangster owner of a London nightclub. When Debbie tries to leave the country with her young son, Ricky, a mysterious figure named Nick (who may or may not be Father Christmas, or Santa Claus) is accidentally shot. Things get tough for Debbie and Ricky, but Nick offers resolution with a mix of practical assistance - and perhaps just the slightest touch of Christmas magic.

The Man Who Shot Christmas

1984

Sir Henry at Rawlinson End poster
7.0

Sir Henry Rawlinson attempts to exorcise the ghost of his brother Humbert, who was accidentally killed in a drunken duck-shooting incident.

Sir Henry at Rawlinson End

1980

Restless Natives poster
6.8

Two lads in Edinburgh embark on a non-violent spree of robberies. They dress up in clown masks and act as modern highwaymen, robbing coach loads of tourists in the highlands. In the process they become folk heroes to the locals.

Restless Natives

1985

No artwork available
NR

Teenagers Sarah and Debbie run away from home and find themselves on the streets of London.

Somewhere to Run

1989

Big Mäc poster
4.0

Bernhard "Big Mäc" Maurer, an ex-motorcycle freak and bored piano teacher, is voted the "perfect motorcyclist" by the trade magazine Motorrad after quitting his job as a music teacher at a Munich high school. He is promised a bonus of $50,000 if he manages to beat a Japanese team in an adventure rally from the Zugspitze to Kilimanjaro. Maurer agrees and chooses as his second man, the technician, his young neighbor Max. Max, for whom an apprenticeship is at stake, injures himself shortly before the start of the rally and has to sit out. Without Maurer's knowledge, Max's almost identical-looking sister Maxi takes over the role of the boy.

Big Mäc

1985

Series credits

Screen Two poster
7.1

Series of single made-for-television dramas.

Screen Two

1985

Hustle poster
7.7

A motley group of London con artists pull of a series of daring and intricate stings.

Hustle

2004

Lovejoy poster
7.4

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.

Lovejoy

1986

Are You Being Served? poster
7.3

This comedy series, which follows the exploits of employees at London's fictional "Grace Brothers" department store, is full of sexual innuendo, slapstick, visual gags, and double entendres. Much of the show's humor parodies Britain's class system, and many of the show's characters are based on stereotypes of the period, including the effeminate Mr. Humphries and the rich, but stingy, store owner.

Are You Being Served?

1972

Hotel Babylon poster
7.3

Hotel Babylon is a British television drama series based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones. The show followed the lives of workers at a glamorous five-star hotel.

Hotel Babylon

2006

Terry and June poster
6.5

Middle-aged Terry and June Medford are beginning to find the trials of life more difficult as they try to succeed in their daily lives. The couple have just moved to Purley, south-east London... Aunt Lucy and the mynah bird have disappeared, as had the occasionally visiting daughters. Terry and June now mixed with friendly next door neighbour Beattie; Terry's chatty work colleague, Malcolm; and their gruff boss Sir Dennis Hodge. Otherwise, things were much as before, with Terry's pigheaded childishness causing no end of problems, usually thwarting June's attempts at leading a cosy life.

Terry and June

1979

Tenko poster
8.3

Based on real-life experiences, Tenko remains one of the most fondly remembered and acclaimed BBC dramas of the early 1980s. It follows a group of women, formerly comfortably well-off ex-pats living in Singapore, as they are captured by the Japanese during World War II.

Tenko

1981

Tenko poster
8.3

Based on real-life experiences, Tenko remains one of the most fondly remembered and acclaimed BBC dramas of the early 1980s. It follows a group of women, formerly comfortably well-off ex-pats living in Singapore, as they are captured by the Japanese during World War II.

Tenko

1981

The Paradise Club poster
6.2

Focuses on brothers Frank and Danny Kane. Their mother is the matriarch of a South London criminal gang, assisted by Danny. Frank has become a priest but leaves the church; he inherits The Paradise Club following the death of their mother and returns to London to try and steer Danny away from crime.

The Paradise Club

1989

Days That Shook the World poster
7.0

Days That Shook the World is a British documentary television series that premiered on BBC Two on 17 September 2003. The programme features various milestones throughout history. It has been broadcast on the BBC, Discovery Channel UK, The History Channel and Viasat History. The series was also released on DVD by the Polish edition of Newsweek in 2007.

Days That Shook the World

2003

dinnerladies poster
7.5

Dinnerladies is a BBC sitcom written by and starring Victoria Wood that chronicles the antics of a group of workers in a canteen in the north of England. Bren tries to maintain a semblance of order in amongst the chaos, while dealing with the canteen supervisor, slightly sex-obsessed cancer sufferer Tony. Dolly and Jean are the bickering menopausal older women, always at odds but best friends beneath it all. Then there's thick-as-two-short-planks Anita, and the terminally uninterested Twinkle, more concerned with having a good time than anything else. Making up the motley crew are military man handyman Stan, all rules and regulations, and ditzy Philippa, who never seems to get anything right.

dinnerladies

1998

A Very Peculiar Practice poster
8.2

A young and idealistic Doctor Stephen Daker arrives at Lowlands University to work at the Health Centre, but has to cope with an eccentric set of colleagues.

A Very Peculiar Practice

1986

No artwork available
NR

Anthology of stories set in a timeshare flat.

Sharing Time

1984

The Ginger Tree poster
5.7

In 1903, a young Scotswoman goes to join her diplomat fiancé in Manchuria. She marries him, and finds herself in a war zone. Disenchanted with her husband, she falls in love with a married Japanese nobleman, Count Kentaro Kurihama, and bears him a son. She carves out a life for herself in Japanese society, despite the hardships and ostracism she faces as both a Westerner and a woman.

The Ginger Tree

1989

Q.E.D. poster
7.1

Q.E.D. is a 1982 short-lived adventure series set in Edwardian England, starring Sam Waterston as Professor Quentin Everett Deverill. The Professor was a scientific detective in the mold of Sherlock Holmes, and the series had a smattering of what would later be called steampunk. In the show, the lead character was known primarily by his initials, Q.E.D; the reference here is that Q.E.D. usually stands for quod erat demonstrandum, a statement signalling the end of a proof. The show aired on the CBS network in the United States, and on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.

Q.E.D.

1982

Third Time Lucky poster
6.0

Third Time Lucky is a British sitcom originally aired on ITV for seven episodes from 6 August to 17 September 1982. George and Beth were married for several years and, as happens during wedlock, the marriage was consummated and bedroom activities recommenced at least once more as they had two children—Clare and Jenny. After seven years, George and Beth parted ways and both remarried: George to Millie and Beth to Bruce. However, both of these second marriages also ended in divorce, so it's fair to say that George and Beth aren't having much luck when it comes to domestic bliss. And you'd be forgiven if they gave up on the whole marriage lark.

Third Time Lucky

1982

Stanley and the Women poster
6.5

Stanley Duke's life is thrown into chaos when his son is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and his home becomes a battleground for his past and present wives and other women.

Stanley and the Women

1991