Amamoto Hideyo, also known by the alternate name Amamoto Eisei (天本英世), was a Japanese actor born in Wakamatsu, Fukuoka, Japan. He came from a wealthy family, with his father working at the Sumitomo Coal Mining Company (住友石炭鉱業株式会社) in Fukuoka.

Amamoto graduated from Wakamatsu Junior High School (若松中学校) in 1943 and entered the Seventh High School (第七高等学校) in 1944. At the age of 19, during World War II, he was conscripted into the student army and served in an artillery unit in Kurume, later being transferred to Miyazaki as a communications soldier.

In 1948, he enrolled in the University of Tokyo (東京大学), majoring in political science with plans to become a diplomat. However, disillusioned by the government's political stance and following a breakup with an older woman, he shifted his focus to literature and theater. He dropped out of university and joined the Actors' Studio Theatre Company (アクターズ・スタジオ・シアター・カンパニー) in Tokyo, eventually becoming a member of the Actor's Studio (アクターズ・スタジオ) and the Shiki Theatre Company (四季劇場). At the age of 28, he made his stage debut in the opera Otello (オテッロ) in 1954, the same year he signed a contract with Shochiku (松竹).

In 1958, Amamoto signed an exclusive contract with Toho (東宝).

He passed away on March 23, 2003, at the age of 77, from acute pneumonia in his hometown of Wakamatsu, Kitakyushu, Japan.

(Source: kisskh) Edit Biography