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Japanese character actor Takashi Shimura was one of the finest film actors of the 20th century and a leading member of the "stock company" of master director Akira Kurosawa. A native of southern Japan, Shimura was a descendant of the samurai warrior class. Following university training, he founded a theatre company, Shichigatsu-za ("July Theatre"). In 1930 he joined a professional company, Kindai-za ("Modern Theatre"). Four years later he signed with the Kinema Shinko film studio. He found a niche playing samurai roles for various studios, then signed a long-term contract with Toho Studios in 1943. He appeared in an average of six films a year for Toho over the next four decades. His greatest critical acclaim came in more than 20 roles for Kurosawa, though he is almost as well recognized outside Japan for his kindly doctor role in the original "Godzilla" (Godzilla (1954)). Shimura's triumph was his unforgettable performance as a dying bureaucrat in Kurosawa's Ikiru (1952). He continued to act steadily, in good films and bad, almost until his death, culminating with Kurosawa's Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980). He is often described as filling the spot for Kurosawa that Ward Bond filled for John Ford--an ever-present and reliable character player who consistently supplied a solidity and strength to whatever film he appeared in. Shimura was definitely a finer actor than Bond, of the most versatile "chameleons" in the world cinema, a great artist with enormous range in sublime interpretations, from Ikiru (1952)'s diffident clerk to the leader of the Seven Samurai in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954). He died in 1982, a reluctant icon of Japanese cinema.

Eleanor Powell was born in 1912 in Springfield, Massachussetts, and got her professional start in Atlantic City clubs, from where she moved into in revue in New York at the Ritz Grill and Casino de Paris at the age of sixteen. She started her career on Broadway in 1929, where her machine-gun foot work gained her the title of world champion in tapping. In 1935 she came to Hollywood where she starred in the great MGM musicals in the late 1930s, establishing herself as a Queen of Ra-Ta-Taps. In spite of the fact that she was primarily a solo performer she also danced with Fred Astaire and George Murphy. After her marriage she wasn't seen on the screen, except for a short number in the Duchess of Idaho (1950). After her divorce she started a short but successful night-club career.

Ricardo Trigo was born on 15 May 1906. He was an actor, known for Patrulla norte (1951), Café Cantante (1951) and Con el más puro amor (1966). He died on 11 February 1982 in Argentina.

José Luis de Celis was born on 14 August 1911 in Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico. He was a writer and producer, known for The Soldiers of Pancho Villa (1959), Así era Pancho Villa (1957) and La locura del rock and roll (1957). He died on 11 February 1982 in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico.

Rexho Muliqi was born on 18 March 1923 in Gusinje, Montenegro, Yugoslavia. He was a composer, known for Obracun (1962), Captain Lechi (1960) and Uka i Bjeshkëve të nemura (1968). He was married to Nexhmije Pagarusha. He died on 11 February 1982 in Pristina, Kosovo, Yugoslavia.

A.B. Facey was born on 31 August 1894 in Maidstone, Victoria, Australia. A.B. was a writer, known for A Fortunate Life and A Fortunate Life (1986). A.B. was married to Evelyn Mary Gibson. A.B. died on 11 February 1982 in Midland, Western Australia, Australia.