Sonny Chiba

Born in Sadaho Maeda (Fukuoka) on January 23, 1939, Sadao Maeda (real name Sonny Chiba ) was the third of six children born to a Japanese Army test pilot. Since he was little he began to train in both theater and gymnastics. He ended up joining the Japan Olympic Team until a back injury ended this facet of his life. In his college years he began studying martial arts and achieved a black belt in karate in 1965.

In the 1960s, Toei studios were looking for new faces and recruited Sonny Chiba , who triumphed in the action and martial arts trilogy consisting of  Champion of Death, Karate Bearfighter and Karate for Life . He has also participated in superhero television series such as Seven Color Mask and Messenger of Allah . The director Kinji Fukasaku had him under his command in Panic on the Tokyo Express , The Storm Riders and Kang samurai . 

In 1994, Sonny Chiba divorced Yoko Nogiwa, with whom he had a daughter, also an actress Juri Manesa. He later became attached to Tamami Chiiba, with whom he had two other offspring, Mackenyu and Gordon.

A great admirer of his work, Quentin Tarantino paid tribute to him in his script for Love at Point Blank , where the protagonists go to a cinema to see some of his films. The filmmaker then recruited him for Kill Bill , where he played chef and retired samurai Hattori Hanzo. In Full Throttle: Tokyo Race , the second installment of the Fast & Furious saga , Sonny Chiba  played the yakuza boss Kamata, the main villain.