Jirō Sakagami
Jirō Sakagami was a Japanese comedian, actor, and singer.
Career
Sakagami was born in Kagoshima Prefecture but spent most of his childhood in Manchukuo. Winning an NHK song contest at age 19, he headed to Tokyo to try to make a name in the entertainment business, eventually training as a comedian at the Asakusa strip clubs. It was there that he met Kin'ichi Hagimoto and the two formed the owarai duo Konto No. 55 in 1966. Konto No. 55 became nationally famous, starring in several popular television shows such as Let's Appear Together on No. 55: Definitive Edition!. Sakagami continued to release songs and branched out into acting, appearing in television dramas as well as in films such as Nagisa Ōshima's Taboo.While playing golf one day in September 2003, Sakagami collapsed due to cerebral infarction. One of the other players was a doctor, thus, Jiro was immediately hospitalized and made a return to the industry in June of 2004.
He died of another stroke on 10 March 2011 at a Tochigi Prefecture hospital.