衣笠貞之助

Directing

Teinosuke Kinugasa (衣笠 貞之助 Kinugasa Teinosuke) (1 January 1896 – 26 February 1982) was a Japanese actor and film director. He was born in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture and died in Kyoto. Kinugasa won the 1954 Palme d'or at Cannes for Jigokumon (The Gate of Hell).

Kinugasa was among the pioneers of Japanese film, but began his career as an actor specializing in female roles (onnagata) at the Nikkatsu studio. When Japanese cinema began using actresses in the early 1920s, he switched to directing and worked for such producers as Shozo Makino before going independent to make his best known film, A Pag…