His real name was Masatada (正唯), but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including 雅広, 正博, and 雅裕).

For instance, the total time it took to shoot the 1936 film Edo no Ka Oshō was only 28 hours.

Masahiro's half-brother, Sadatsugu Matsuda (1906–2003), was also a popular film director.

Masahiro's sister, Tomoko Makino, married the actor Kunitarō Sawamura, and gave birth to the actors Masahiko Tsugawa and Hiroyuki Nagato, each of whom married famous actresses (Yukiji Asaoka and Yōko Minamida respectively).

Masahiro married the actress Yukiko Todoroki and their son, Masayuki Makino, is the head of the Okinawa Actor's School, famous for training a number of Japan's top female pop singers.