Kikko Matsuoka


Kikko Matsuoka is a Japanese actress. Her real name is '''Kikuko Matsuoka.

Career

Starting as a child actress, Matsuoka made her film debut in 1957 with Daiei Film's Tokyo hanzai chizu. Appearing in several dozen films, including the horror film The Living Skeleton, she was also a gravure idol in the late 1960s. She was even seen in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice as a diver girl, but was uncredited. Also working on television, she appeared in over thirty television dramas, including recurring roles on hit shows like Key Hunter and The Guardman. She was also a regular on landmark variety shows like Kyosen Maetake gebageba 90-pun. Arguably her most memorable work on television was as a weekly co-host for over ten years on the late night news show 11PM, which itself lasted for over twenty years.
It was during her television work that she met the actor Hayato Tani; they announced their engagement in 1978 and married in 1981. The couple have appeared in many Japanese television programs together, including the hit gameshow Takeshi's Castle, where Matsuoka guest starred by encouraging her husband, General Tani, not to give up.