Haruo Tanaka (田中 春男, Tanaka Haruo, 5 March 1912 – 21 February 1992) was a Japanese film actor noted for his supporting roles in a career that spanned seven decades.

Tanaka was born in Kyoto and quit school in order to become a film actor, joining the Nikkatsu studio in 1925.

[1] He eventually moved up to secondary leads and even into leading roles against actresses such as Ranko Hanai and Haruyo Ichikawa, but he never succeeded as a matinee idol.

[1] Following Masaichi Nagata, he moved to Daiichi Eiga and Shinkō Kinema before eventually going freelance.

[1] He appeared in over 250 films, both gendaigeki and jidaigeki, by directors such as Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Sadao Yamanaka, Akira Kurosawa, Tomu Uchida, Mikio Naruse, and Masahiro Makino.