Sanada Hiroyuki is a Japanese actor and stage actor working in Japanese and British plays and theatre. He is also known as a recording artist in Japan. In Asia, he is most famous for his martial arts roles and historical films. Outside of Japan, Sanada was often credited in his younger days as Henry, Harry, or Duke Sanada. Sanada was born in Tokyo. Originally planning to be an action star, he studied Shorinji Kempo and later took up Kyokushin kaikan karate. Sanada began training at the age of 11 with actor and martial arts star Sonny Chiba's Japan Action Club, where he developed good all-around martial arts ability and soon became Chiba's protégé. Sanada's martial arts film career introduced him to Michelle Yeoh, with whom he co-starred in Royal Warriors and then later in Danny Boyle's Sunshine. Sanada received a bachelor of Arts from Nihon University. From 1980 to 1991, Sanada released a series of albums and singles in Japan as a singer; several of these were tied to films, TV shows, or stage productions he was starring in. In 2010 and 2011, compilations were released covering his songs for movies and pop hits, respectively. Sanada has established himself as a character actor who is adept at playing a variety of roles. He was first noticed as a serious actor in the movie "Mahjong Hourouki" directed by Makoto Wada. Since then, he has acted in every Wada movie — works filled with humor and nostalgia for classic films. He married actress Satomi Tezuka in 1990. They divorced in July 1997. They have 2 sons. (Source: Wikipedia)

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