Ken Shimura

Ken Shimura
志村けん
Ken Shimura; 志村けん
Birth name	Yasunori Shimura (志村康徳)
Born	February 20, 1950 (age 62); Higashimurayama, Tokyo
Nationality	Japanese

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Ken Shimura (志村けん, Shimura Ken^?) (born Yasunori Shimura (志村康徳, Shimura Yasunori^?), February 20, 1950 in Higashimurayama, Tokyo), is a Japanese comedian and actor. He co-starred with Masashi Tashiro, Nobuyoshi Kuwano in the Japanese variety show "Ken Shimura no Bakatono-sama".

He is most famous for starring in Hachiji Da Yo! Zen'in Shugo! with the comedy group The Drifters and Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan with Cha Kato, another former member of The Drifters.

[edit] Timeline

From September to October 1996, a rumor circulated that he had died.
In 2001, he did a duet with Naoko Ken as "Ken♀♂Ken" in "Ginza atari de Gin Gin Gin" (銀座あたりでギンギンギン^?).
In April 2002, he recorded a one-off single with Hello! Project's unit "Mini Moni", with the collaboration credited to "Bakatono to Mini Moni Hime" (バカ殿様とミニモニ。姫^?). They recorded two songs named after a catch phrase of his, "Ai-in".

His stage name "Ken" comes from his father's name "Kenji" (憲司^?). His father worked as a vice-principal in an elementary school and Shimura was brought up in a strict family. However, his father suffered from dementia since he was involved in a car accident in front of their home when Ken was in junior high.

In April 2005, during the demonstrations in China against Japan becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a photograph of his face was put on a website for the Chinese anti-Japanese movement for unclear reasons.

He is well known in Japan and also in Taiwan, Thailand, and India. It is also notable that Takeshi Kaneshiro is a fan of his.

Shimura severely criticized former co-star Masashi Tashiro after Tashiro's arrest, saying, "I want that fellow to disappear from the entertainment world because he did a pathetic thing."