Hideko Takamine 高峰 秀子 Takamine Hideko March 27 1924 December 28 2010 was a Japanese actress who began as a child actress and maintained her fame in a career that spanned 50 years She is particularly known for her collaborations with directors Mikio Naruse and Keisuke Kinoshita with TwentyFour Eyes 1954 and Floating Clouds 1955 being among her most noted films Takamine was born in Hakodate Hokkaidō in 1924 At the age of four following the death of her mother she was placed in the care of her aunt in Tokyo Her first role was in the Shochiku studios 1929 film Mother Haha which brought her tremendous popularity as a child actor She toured as a singer to entertain Japanese troops and after the war sang for American occupation troops in Tokyo In 1950 she left Shintoho and became a freelance actress She was especially favoured as leading actress by Naruse appearing in 17 of his films between 1941 and 1966 which are considered some of her finest performances She married writerdirector Zenzo Matsuyama in 1955 but continued her acting career stating that she wanted to create a new style of wife who has a job After retiring as an actress in 1979 she published her autobiography and several essay collections She died of lung cancer on 28 December 2010 at the age of 86