Masakazu Tamura was born 1 August 1943 in
Kyoto,
Japan to Japanese actor
Tsumasaburō Bandō. Tsumasaburō Bandō died when Tamura was only nine years old. His brothers
Takahiro and
Ryō are also actors. He had been thinking of becoming an actor in the future since he was a child. He was thus trained in fighting with swords and more traditional forms of Japanese theatre like
Kabuki and
Nihon Buyō. He graduated from
Seijo University. In 1960, he made a cameo appearance in the film
Hatamoto Gurentai, in which his older brother Takahiro starred. The following year, he signed a contract with the
Shōchiku Ōfuna company while he was still in university. From 1970s, Tamura focused predominately on television with occasional film appearances including
Yasuharu Hasebe's film ''
Female Prisoner Scorpion: 701's Grudge Song '' and
Yasuo Furuhata's film
Nihon no Fixer . From the mid-1960s to the 1970s, Tamura was called the Japanese
Alain Delon. He appeared in many period dramas (
jidaigeki) such as his lead role in
Naruto Hichō on
NHK and most of his roles were skilled swordsmen. His photo book of the film was also released. He is most famous for his role as the polite and highly idiosyncratic police detective "
Furuhata Ninzaburō" in a self-titled drama by Japanese playwright
Kōki Mitani. This drama was one of the most popular in its time and one of the most popular dramas in the history of Japanese television. The drama started in 1994 and Tamura continued playing Detective Furuhata until 2006.( In 1997, Tamura and Mitani worked together again in
Sōrito Yobanaide on
Fuji TV.) In 2007, Tamura appeared in the film for the first in 14 years in
Last Love. Tamura won "Outstanding Actor" at the
Monte-Carlo Television Festival for his work in the TV special ''Ah, You're Really Gone Now
in 2009. Tamura appeared in several television dramas related to Chushingura and finally he played the role of "Ōishi Kuranosuke" for the first time in the special drama Chushingura Sono Otoko Ōishi Kuranosuke'' in 2010. In 2018, he played the role of "
Nemuri Kyoshirō" for the first time in about 20 years in
Nemuri Kyoshirō The Final on
Fuji TV. But he hinted at his retirement from acting soon after appearing in that TV movie. He died of heart failure on 3 April 2021 at the age of 77. ==Selected filmography==