Toyoda Shiro (豊田四郎)
Shiro TOYODA (January 3, 1906 - November 13, 1977) was a Japanese film director in Japan.
Summary
He was born in Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture. In 1924 he entered Shochiku Kamata Studio and learned from Yasujiro SHIMAZU. After that, he moved to Toho Co., Ltd. and directed many literary films, receiving critical acclaim. He willingly made films based on literary works that dealt with people fighting against incurable diseases such as "Kojima no haru" (Spring on a Small Island) and "Kokotsu no hito" (The Twilight Years), but he was later often criticized for reproducing incorrect information and treatments verbatim from the original.
He was a homosexual (a well-known claim that appears in essays by Ryo IKEBE and Hisaya MORISHIGE), and was particularly cruel to actress.
On November 13, 1977 he suffered a fatal heart attack during the wedding reception of actor Kinya KITAOJI.