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William Ross

William Ross

Acting

Biography

Ross was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. on September 7, 1923. He was drafted into the Korean War, and would be stationed in Japan, where he fell in love with the country. Ross would subsequently move to Tokyo with intentions of joining the Japanese State Department. Instead, he ended up becoming involved in the film industry, and would go on to appear in more than 80 Japanese films and Television shows. In 1959, Ross got into the dubbing industry upon recommendation by Japanese actor So Yamamura. He showed such a talent for the industry, that the Japanese dubbing director quit and left Ross in charge on the first day. Soon thereafter, he would hired as a director by Asian Films. After the closure of several Tokyo dubbing studios in 1964, he founded his own dubbing company, Frontier Enterprises, also working as dialogue writer, dubbing director and voice actor. Frontier quickly became one of the big five early English dubbing houses, doing work for companies such as Toho, Toei and Shochiku. Frontier would go on to dub over 465 live-action and animated films and TV series. Ross was forced to rely on whatever native English speakers he could find in Tokyo back in the 1960's; much of which consisted of businessmen, musicians and students with little to no acting experience. He held auditions and made sure he hired the best people available, and trained them thoroughly. His regular dubbing cast primarily consisted of expatriates living in Tokyo and members of the Far East Network, however. Aside from his dubbing ventures, Ross was an associate producer on Toei's Terror Beneath the Sea and the MGM-Toei coproduction The Green Slime (where he was also an assistant director to Kinji Fukusaku and appeared as Ferguson). He continued to act occasionally, appearing in Message from Space, The Last Dinosaur and The War in Space. Ross was also a dialogue editor, notably editing for American animated shows such as Dennis the Menace, Heathcliff & the Cadillac Cats and The Real Ghostbusters. Ross died in Tokyo on April 19, 2014.

Known For

Maria of the Ant Village
8.0

Alongside Tokyo's Sumida River is a ragpickers' settlement known as Ant Village. One night, a young Catholic girl, Satoko Kitahara, who has been baptized under the name of Maria, comes to offer her services. However, Ant Village is not just an ordinary vagrants' community but a fine autonomous organization, and as the municipal authorities have long been demanding that the people of Ant Village leave the site, Satoko is utilized to publicize the Village and win public sympathy. While being utilized in this manner, Satoko is nevertheless glad to be able to help the people of Ant Village, especially the children, and when the summer vacation comes she decides to take the children on an excursion to Hakone. To raise funds for this purpose she becomes a rag-picker herself.

Maria of the Ant Village

1958Movie
Enigmatic Explosion of the Battleship Mutsu

During the naval battle of Midway in WWII, the battleship Mutsu was in its home port in Japan. The ship's officers and crew were frustrated at not being able to take part in the fighting. They had been held back by orders from the Naval Ministry, but there was also a plot by saboteurs, who were trying to prevent the sailing of the Mutsu. Director Komori developed a suspenseful plot by including a fictional adaptation of the Russian spy Richard Sorge, who had been captured in Japan and subsequently executed. Komori brings a fictional Russian spy to the screen by portraying him as a military attaché at the German embassy. As Germany was an ally of Japan in WWII, a secret agent being a mole in the German embassy is a perfect cover. The interaction of the saboteurs and the officers and crew of the Mutsu make an exciting story.

Enigmatic Explosion of the Battleship Mutsu

1960Movie