Actor Watanabe Fumio, a star in many movies by Oshima Nagisa (72) and a TV regular, died yesterday in a Tokyo hospital of acute respiratory failure. He was 74. In the 1950s and 60s, he appeared in such Oshima films as “Ai to Kibo no Machi” (Town of Love and Hope, 1959) and “Seishun Zankoku Monogatari” (Cruel Youth, 1960). In his forties, he began to work mostly in television. He starred in such TV shows as “Kuishibo Banzai!” and “Renso Gemu”. The former made him a household name as he travelled the country sampling regional foods, a standard type of show these days.
• Namesake actor Watanabe Ken (44) has hinted he may move to Hollywood following his invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More details of his upcoming Tinseltown project, Batman Begins, have also come to light. His character, Ra’s Al Ghul, is central to the development of a young Bruce Wayne into the caped crusader. Once again, Watanabe will have a shaved head as he did in The Last Samurai. Is he the new Yul Brynner?