[1] Nakao attended Chiba Prefectural Kisarazu High School from 1958, and entered Musashino Art University from 1961.
[2] On returning to Japan in 1964, he enrolled in the Mingei (民芸) theatre company, where he studied under Jūkichi Uno.
[1] In 1978, he married actress Shino Ikenami, the daughter of rakugo comedian Kingentei Basho.
Fans of Abarenbō Shōgun immediately recognize him as the scheming Tokugawa Muneharu, arch-rival of the eighth shogun Yoshimune.
He also acted in the 1992 Juzo Itami film Minbo: the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion.