Life and Career
Kan'ya made his first appearance onstage at the age of seven, at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, under the stagename Bandō Tamasaburō IV. He would later take the name Bandō Shūka III and, following the death of his adoptive father in 1932, became Morita Kan'ya XIV in 1935. He was, like most kabuki actors, quite prolific, and for a number of years in the 1930s was a member of a group of young actors called "Seinen Kabuki" (Young men Kabuki) who performed regularly at the Shin Kabuki-za in Tokyo, then called the Shinjuku Daiichi Gekijō (First Shinjuku Theatre).
In the early postwar years, Kan'ya acted in a number of films, including Surōnin Makaritōru (1947), Otomi to Yosaburō (1950), and Edo no Hanamichi (1953).
Remaining quite active on the kabuki stage as well, Kan'ya performed in many revivals at the National Theatre, taking part as well in the Theatre's 1966 opening ceremonies and the associated performance of Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami. He also often performed alongside his adopted son Bandō Tamasaburō V.
Kan'ya made his last Tokyo stage appearance in December 1974, in a production of Kanadehon Chūshingura at the National Theatre, and his final stage appearance the following month, at Nagoya's Chūnichi Theatre. He died on 28 March 1975.
Read more about this topic: Morita Kanya XIV
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