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Takeshi Kaga is a well known stage and movie actor in
Japan, and is probably best known internationally for his portrayal of
Chairman Kaga in the Japanese television show
Iron Chef produced by
Fuji TV.
Kaga was born on
October 12,
1950 in the city of Kanazawa in
Ishikawa Prefecture,
Japan. His first experience on stage was at the age of seven when he
joined the Kanazawa City Boys choral group.
In
1972, he joined the Japanese
SHIKI musical company. While with the company, he played the role of
Jesus Christ in the Japanese stage production of
Jesus Christ Superstar (1976), and role of Tony in
West Side Story (1977). In 1980 left SHIKI to play the role of
Sanada in the movie
Yajuu Shisubeshi. He starred in several movies throughout the
1980s, but his most famous role would be that of Chairman Kaga, the
eccentric and flamboyant host of Ryoori no Testsujin, a cooking
competition show first shown in
1993. It became very popular, not only in Japan, but around the world,
and was broadcast in the United States and Canada under the name Iron
Chef.
Despite his international fame with the show, he has not given up his
love for musicals. In
1994 he starred in the popular Japanese production of
Les Misιrables as
Jean Valjean. He also starred in "Macbeth" in 2000, and in
Jekyll and Hyde as well as in
The Threepenny Opera in 2001.
He currently appears on
Time Shock 21 a quiz show on
Asahi Television in Japan.
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