of R2D2 or any other of the characters, though the subject of Star Wars was brought up in a televised discussion between himself, Akira Kurosawa, and his costars Misa Uehara and Minoru Chiaki. George Lucas acknowledged heavy influence of The Hidden Fortress on Star Wars, particularly the technique of telling the story from the perspective of the film's lowliest characters, C-3PO and R2-D2. Later life and death Fujiwara had a long running career, appearing in more than 70 films, and in addition to this more than 50 TV appearances, from the 1930s to 1984. Fujiwara retired in the late 1970s, though he continued to make occasional television appearances. His final film role was a memorable cameo in Juzo Itami's The Funeral (お葬式, 1984). He died in 1985 at the age of 80 in a Tokyo hospital after suffering a heart attack. Osaka's Abuyama old Mound serves as his final burial site. Filmography Ongaku Kigeki - Horoyui Jinsei (1933) The Girl in the Rumor (1935) Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro (1938) Chocolate and Soldiers (1938) Travelling Actors (1940) Hideko the Bus Conductor (1941) Blue Mountains (1949) The Munekata Sisters (1950) The Skin of the South (1952) Ikiru (1952, directed by Akira Kurosawa) Husband and Wife (1953, directed by Mikio Naruse) Tomei Ningen (1954) The Seven Samurai (1954, directed by Akira Kurosawa) An Inn at Osaka (1954) I Live in Fear (1955) The Lone Journey (1955) Romantic Daughters (1956) The Hidden Fortress (1958) Tokyo Twilight (1957, directed by Yasujirō Ozu) The Lower Depths (1957) Life of an Expert Swordsman (1959) The Sun's Burial (1960, directed by Nagisa Oshima) The Bad Sleep Well (1960) Approach of Autumn (1960) Yojimbo (1961, directed by Akira Kurosawa) Sanjuro (1962, directed by Akira Kurosawa) Heaven and Hell (1963) A Woman's Life (1963, directed by Mikio Naruse) Red Beard (1965) Mickey One (1965, directed by Arthur Penn) Taking The Castle (1965) The Sword of Doom (1966, directed by Kihachi Okamoto) The River of Tears (1967, directed by Kenji Misumi) Double Suicide (1969) Dodeskaden (1970) Battle of Okinawa (1971) Kagemusha (directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1980) Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981, directed by Shinji Somai) The Funeral (1984, directed by Juzo Itami) W's Tragedy (1984, directed by Shinichiro Sawai) References External links 1905 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Japanese male actors