Goro Naya (納谷悟朗 Naya Gorō, born November 17, 1929 – March 5, 2013) was a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator, and theatre director from Hakodate, Hokkaidō.
Dropped out from the legal education division of Ritsumeikan University, he worked in theatre troupes. Later, he worked at Theatre Echo as a literacy director and also performed in plays such Neil Simon's “The Sunshine Boys” as Willy Clark. In terms of family, he had a younger brother called Rokurō Naya and was married to Kachiko Hino, who were also actors and voice actors.
While he was best known for voicing Inspector Koichi Zenigata, he was also The Great Boss in the Kamen Rider series, Captain Juzo Okita in Space Battleship Yamato, Gordon Rosewater in The Big O, and Crocus from One Piece. He was also the Japanese dubbed voices of Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, and John Wayne.
He died on March 5, 2013 due to chronic respiratory failure at the age of 83.
Roles[]
As Inspector Zenigata[]
- Lupin the 3rd Part 1
- Lupin the 3rd Part 2
- The Mystery of Mamo
- The Castle of Cagliostro
- Lupin the 3rd Part III
- The Legend of the Gold of Babylon
- Bye-Bye Liberty - Close Call!
- Mystery of the Hemingway Papers
- Steal Napoleon's Dictionary!
- Orders to Assassinate Lupin
- Burn, Zantetsuken!
- Farewell to Nostradamus
- Pursue Harimao's Treasure!!
- Lupin III: Dead or Alive
- The Secret of Twilight Gemini
- In Memory of the Walther P38
- Tokyo Crisis
- Da Capo of Love: Fujiko's Unlucky Days
- $1 Money Wars
- Return of the Magician
- Alcatraz Connection
- Episode 0: First Contact
- Lupin the 3rd: Treasure of the Sorcerer King
- Operation: Return the Treasure
- Stolen Lupin
- Lupin III: The Inheritance of Columbus is Dyed by Blood
- Angel's Tactics
- Seven Days Rhapsody
- Lupin III: Lupin is dead, Zenigata is in love
- Elusiveness of the Fog
- Sweet Lost Night
- Green vs. Red
- Lupin III vs. Detective Conan
- The Last Job
- Lupin Family Line-up
As Goemon Ishikawa XIII[]
Notes[]
- It was revealed during an interview between himself, Monkey Punch, Yasuo Otsuka and Masaaki Osumi that while Naya did the role of Goemon for the pilot, he wanted to be Zenigata since Goemon only had a few lines and was the reason why he had the role until his death (outside of Plot of The Fuma Clan, and Blood Seal - Eternal Mermaid, where he was voiced by his successor Koichi Yamadera). Masaaki Osumi had commented that Naya had a "hard-boiled atmosphere among people".[1]
- He attended Yasuo Yamada's funeral. As he looked at a photo of Yamada, he softly, tearfully yelled in his Zenigata voice, "Hey, Lupin, who should I chase from now on? If you're dead, who will I chase now?" Both he and the people who attended cried.
- Due to his developing throat cancer later in his career, his role as Zenigata was cut back in later appearances. While The Last Job was made to be a send off to him, his final role was Lupin Family Line-up. He died shortly after.
- Starred with Yasuo Yamada in the Japanese dub of The Muppet Show; Yamada voiced Kermit the Frog and Naya voiced Sam the Eagle.
- He voiced the Chairman in the 1981 and 2000 Japanese dubs of Disney's The Rescuers; Yamada voiced Bernard in the mostly-lost 1981 dub. Both reprised their roles in the dub of The Rescuers Down Under as well.
- Both he and Yasuo Yamada have dubbed Clint Eastwood in two different dubs of A Fistful of Dollars. Naya also dubbed Lee Van Cleef in the two subsequent films, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
- Starred alongside Yamada in the Japanese dub of the Monty Python franchise. Yamada voiced Graham Chapman and Naya voiced John Cleese.
- In 1985, during the making of Lupin III Part III, he underwent surgery for a gastric ulcer.
References[]
- ↑ Lupin III 35th Anniversary Special Project Monkey Punch, Yasuo Otsuka, Masaaki Osumi, Goro Naya Special Dialogue! Lupin III Official Magazine - June 5, 2002