Kunichika Tomiyama (冨山 邦親, Tomiyama Kunichika; October 31, 1938 – September 25, 1995), better known professionally by his stage name Kei Tomiyama (富山 敬, Tomiyama Kei), was a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator.
He was affiliated with multiple talent agencies during his career, including Aoni Production and Production Baobab.
Tomiyama is best known for his roles in Tiger Mask as Naoto Date/Tiger Mask, Space Battleship Yamato as Susumu Kodai, UFO Robo Grendizer as Duke Fried/Daisuke Umon, the Time Bokan series as the Narrator, GeGeGe no Kitarō as Nezumi-Otoko, Chibi Maruko-chan as Tomozō Sakura and Shintarō Honami, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes as Yang Wen-li.
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Early life and education
Kunichika Tomiyama was born on October 13, 1938, in Anshan, a city that was then part of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (its territory is now part of the modern-day People's Republic of China). He was the oldest of three brothers; but his siblings died in an accident and from malnutrition, respectively. After World War II, his family returned to Japan, first moving to Miyazaki Prefecture, and then to Setagaya ward in Tokyo.
He was a "theater boy" who had been a member of school drama clubs since he was in junior high, and was part of the drama club of Seisoku High School in Minato, Tokyo. He studied theater at the Nihon University College of Art, but after deciding that "studying at school and actually acting are different", he dropped out to become a trainee at the Ashi Theater Company.
Career
He joined the Toho Children's Theatre Company in his second year of high school in 1955, making his stage debut as the pirate Kuroji in the Kusadao Mizusawa play Golden Nightingale. After about three years of activity, he left the company to focus on his university studies.
After the Ashi Theater Company, which he joined after dropping out of university, disbanded two years into his tenure, he took entrance exams for other theater companies, and worked a variety of menial jobs, including as a bartender, host, and a food hawker.
In 1957, he made his voice acting debut as Takemaru in the Tohoku Broadcasting Company radio drama Genkuro Monogatari. As voice acting was not considered a full-time occupation for actors like him to pursue yet, he initially worked in the field to earn money for his theater career and living expenses.
His first few voice acting roles in anime were secondary characters in shows such as Gigantor (1963), Prince Planet (1965), Astro Boy (1965), Oraa Guzura Dado (1967), Speed Racer (1967), Ōgon Bat (1967), Princess Knight (1967), Animal 1 (1968), and Dokachin the Primitive Boy (1968).
His first starring role was as Sabu in Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae in 1968. He became a popular voice actor with his distinctively tender voice, portraying numerous roles during his career, ranging from heroic to comedic, and young to old.
Death
At 9:07 am on September 25, 1995, Tomiyama suddenly died of pancreatic cancer in Shinjuku, Tokyo at the age of 56.
In 2007, he was posthumously awarded the Special Achievement Award at the first Seiyu Awards.
Successors
After Tomiyama's death, numerous voice actors took over his ongoing roles.
Takeshi Aono (Chibi Maruko-chan as Tomozō Sakura)
Nobuo Tobita (Chibi Maruko-chan as Shintarō Honami)
Hideyuki Tanaka (SD Vierra as SD Istiono)
Tomohiro Nishimura (Soreike! Anpanman as SL Man)
Junpei Takiguchi (Time Bokan 2000: Kaitou Kiramekiman (Time Bokan series) as the Narrator)
Toshihiko Nakajima (Time Bokan 2000: Kaitou Kiramekiman (Time Bokan series) as Odatebuta)
Kōichi Yamadera (Space Battleship Yamato as Susumu Kodai, Idol Defense Force Hummingbird as President Yajima, Grendizer as Duke Fried (Super Robot Wars), Yatterman as the Narrator and Odatebuta)
Kenyū Horiuchi (Grendizer as Duke Fleed (Super Robot Wars Complete Box))
Yasunori Matsumoto (Bokan Desuyo as Ippatsuman and Odatebuta)
Shigeru Ushiyama (Batman: The Animated Series as Mad Hatter)
Hozumi Gōda (Legend of the Galactic Heroes as Yang Wen-li)
Kappei Yamaguchi (Looney Tunes as Bugs Bunny)
Chafurin (Barbapapa as Barbapapa)
Naoki Tatsuta (Winnie-the-Pooh as Rabbit)
Filmography
Television animation
1960s
Gigantor (1963)
Prince Planet (1965) (Pike)
Astro Boy (1965) (Saltan)
Oraa Guzura Dado (1967) (Papa)
Speed Racer (1967) (Sabu)
Ōgon Bat (1967)
Princess Knight (1967)
Animal 1 (1968) (Tōjirō)
Dokachin the Primitive Boy (1968) (Dr. Northenpunk)
Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae (1968) (Sabu (#1-33))
Star of the Giants (1968) (Haruhiko Makiba (Third), Kōji Ōta, newspaper reporter)
Attack No.1 (1969)
Otokoippiki Gakidaishō (1969) (Mankichi Togawa)
Tiger Mask (1969) (Naoto Date/Tiger Mask)
Kamui the Ninja: Stories Other Than the Legend (1969) (Shirō)
Roppō Yabure-kun (1969) (Yabure Roppō)
1970s
The Adventures of Hutch the Honeybee (1970) (Hutch's Noppo)
Bakuhatsu Gorō (1969) (Hiroshi Kubota)
Andersen Monogatari (1971) (Tom, Wong, Swallow)
OVA
Area 88 (1985) (Micky Simon)
Leda: The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko (1985) (Ringamu)
Gall Force (1986) (Exenon)
Yōtōden (1987) (Shinosuke Hayami)
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988) (Yang Wen-li)
The Fairy King (1988) (Cu Chulainn)
Patlabor: The New Files (1992) (Zero)
Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals (1994) (Gush Hassam)
Barbapapa (1995) (Barbapapa, Narrator)
Theatrical animation
Grendizer, Getter Robo G, Great Mazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu (1976) (Daisuke Umon/Duke Fleed)
UFO Robot Grendizer vs. Great Mazinger (1976) (Daisuke Umon/Duke Fleed)
Space Battleship Yamato (1977) (Susumu Kodai)
Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato (1978) (Susumu Kodai)
Yamato: The New Voyage (1979) (Susumu Kodai)
Be Forever Yamato (1980) (Susumu Kodai)
Final Yamato (1983) (Susumu Kodai)
Golgo 13 (1983) (Robert Dawson)
Kimagure Orange Road (1989) (Takashi Kasuga)
Time Bokan: Royal Revival (1993) (Narrator, Sasayaki Reporter, Tommy Yama)
Crayon Shin-chan: Unkokusai's Ambition (1995) (Hieru-Jokoman)
Video games
Space Battleship Yamato (1992) (Susumu Kodai)
Mazinger Z (1994) (Duke Fleed)
Dubbing
Rick Moranis
Ghostbusters (1989 TV Asahi edition) (Louis Tully)
Spaceballs (1993 TBS edition) (Lord Dark Helmet)
Ghostbusters II (1992 Fuji TV edition) (Louis Tully)
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (Wayne Szalinski)
The Flintstones (Barney Rubble)
Martin Sheen
The California Kid (TV edition) (Michael McCord))
The Final Countdown (1989 TBS edition) (Warren Lasky)
The Dead Zone (1989 TV Asahi edition) (Greg Stillson)
The Believers (1991 TV Asahi edition) (Cal Jamison)
Wall Street (1992 TV Asahi edition) (Carl Fox)
Woody Allen
Play It Again, Sam (Allan Felix)
Stardust Memories (Sandy Bates)
Broadway Danny Rose (Danny Rose)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1992 TV Asahi edition) (Mickey Sachs)
Steve Martin
My Blue Heaven (Vincent 'Vinnie' Antonelli)
L.A. Story (Harris K. Telemacher)
Father of the Bride (George Banks)