Yasuo Muramatsu

Biography

Muramatsu was born in Tokyo Prefecture on April 6, 1933.

He lived in China during early childhood, but returned to Japan in his first year of junior high school through repatriation following World War II. In China, he received a "forced labor order" from Mao Zedong's army and was tasked to clean up corpses despite only being an elementary school student.

Inspired by a Shiki Theatre Company performance he saw when he was a university student, he joined as a trainee in 1955. Around that time, Keita Asari, the co-founder of the Shiki Theatre Company, was discussing the idea of "starting a company specializing in dubbing" with others at a bar they frequented. It led to the bar’s owner, Banjiro Uemura, founding Tohokushinsha Film. As a result, Muramatsu started appearing in dubbing productions in their early days.

After leaving the theater company, Muramatsu worked as a freelancer for a while. Later, when his younger sister was interviewing Koichi Chiba, she mentioned, "My older brother is also an actor," to which Chiba then invited him to join the same agency, leading to his affiliation with Dōinsha Production starting in 1965. From that point on, voice acting became his major focus.

He became a freelancer in 1988, but after working at Wit Promotion, he officially founded Office Kaoru in 1992.

Death

In 2024, he was hospitalized due to declining physical strength.

Muramatsu died in Yokohama on April 11 of that same year, at the age of 91, with his wife Kaoru by his side.

Filmography

Television animation

Kaibutsu-kun (1968)

Kamui the Ninja (1969) (Roku)

Dog of Flanders (1975) (Hans)

Wakakusa no Charlotte (1977) (Gordon)

Anne of Green Gables (1979) (John Sadler)

Gordian Warrior (1979) (Dokuma)

Doraemon (1980) (Nobirō Nobi, Time Patrol Captain)

Super Dimension Century Orguss (1983) (Jeffrey Wright)

Sherlock Hound (1984) (the Frenchman (Ep. 19))

Princess Sara (1985) (Old Priest)

The Story of Pollyanna, Girl of Love (1986) (Dr. Charlie Ames)

My Patrasche (1992) (Reins)

Ninku (1995) (Seishi Ninku)

Rurouni Kenshin (1996) (Takuma Hashizume)

Detective Conan (2000) (Kenzo Masuyama:Pisco)

Gilgamesh (2003) (The Manager)

One Piece (2005) (Tom)

Stitch! (2008) (Teacher (Ep. 20))

Naruto: Shippuden (2010) (Iou)

Chaika - The Coffin Princess (2014) (Vemac IV)

Original video animation (OVA)

Vampire Hunter D (1985) (Mayor Roman)

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989) (Chris's father)

Black Jack (1998) (Dr. Stanfield)

Theatrical animation

Mobile Suit Gundam (1981) (General Revil)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Soldiers of Sorrow (1981) (General Revil)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space (1982) (General Revil)

Wicked City (1987) (Black Guard President)

Doraemon: Nobita's Diary of the Creation of the World (1995) (The President)

Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called: The Kasukabe Boys of the Evening Sun (2004) (Mike Mizuno)

Crayon Shin-chan: Invasion!! Alien Shiriri (2017) (Mike Mizuno)

Video games

Gihren no Yabou series (1998–) (General Revil)

Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island (2009) (Bethgea)

Dubbing

2012 (Tony Delgotto (George Segal))

About Schmidt (Larry Hertzel (Howard Hesseman))

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (Roger Podacter (Troy Evans))

Armageddon (Ronald Quincy (Jason Isaacs))

Assault on Precinct 13 (Sgt. Jasper O'Shea (Brian Dennehy))

Asteroid (1997 TV Asahi edition) (Lloyd Morgan (Frank McRae))

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1994 TV Tokyo edition) (Chuck De Nomolos (Joss Ackland))

The Boston Strangler (1973 TV Asashi edition) (Dr. Nagy (Austin Willis))

Brawl in Cell Block 99 (The Placid Man (Udo Kier))

The Cable Guy (Earl Kovacs (George Segal))

Captain America (Sam Kolawetz (Ned Beatty))

The Cave (Dr. Nicolai (Marcel Iureş))

Coupe de Ville (Fred "Pop" Libner (Alan Arkin))

Dead Silence (Edward Ashen (Bob Gunton))

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (The Dodgeball chancellor (William Shatner))

Duel (Café owner (Eddie Firestone))

First Blood (1995 TV Asahi edition) (Deputy Sgt. Arthur Galt (Jack Starrett))