Ken Shimura

Ken Shimura
志村けん
Born
Yasunori Shimura (志村 康徳)

(1950-02-20)20 February 1950[1]
Died29 March 2020(2020-03-29) (aged 70)
Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
EducationTokyo Metropolitan Kurume High School [ja]
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • actor
  • voice actor
  • singer
  • television personality
Years active1972–2020
Notes
Same year/generation as:
Beat Takeshi
Shofukutei Tsurube II

Yasunori Shimura (志村 康徳, Shimura Yasunori, February 20, 1950 – March 29, 2020), known professionally as Ken Shimura (志村 けん, Shimura Ken), was a Japanese comedian. He was born in Higashimurayama, Tokyo.

He started his career as an assistant to the comedy band The Drifters, led by Chōsuke Ikariya. In 1974, He joined the group, replacing Chū Arai. He appeared as members of the group on popular comedy shows that gained massive popularity from the 1970s to the 1980s. Hachiji-dayo! Zen'in-shūgō achieved the highest viewership rating of 50.5%, and The Drifters Daibakushō (ドリフ大爆笑) reached 40.4% viewership. These shows made us nationally popular. After the end of Hachiji-dayo! in 1985, he began to work independently as well. He appeared on shows like Kato-chan Ken-chan Gokigen TV (加トちゃんケンちゃんごきげんテレビ), with Cha Katō, a fellow member of the group, Shimura Ken no Daijōbu-dā (志村けんのだいじょうぶだぁ)," and Shimura Ken no Baka Tono-sama (志村けんのバカ殿様), portraying characters like Baka Tono-sama (バカ殿様, Stupid Lord) and Hen na Oji-san (変なおじさん, Strange Older Man). These characters became highly popular.

Shimura's comedic work was inspired in part by that of Jerry Lewis.[2]

  1. ^ 68歳誕生日 Archived 30 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Shimura's Official Blog. 19 February 2018
  2. ^ "Ken Shimura dead of coronavirus; Japanese comic was 70 years old". USA Today. 30 March 2020.