In his autobiography, he claimed that he had made his stage debut as early as 1880, in a performance given by the Tamizo Onoe company.

[1] His troupe regularly performed at a theater in Kyoto owned by Shozo Makino, and as a kabuki actor, he was known for his extravagant stage tricks.

Onoe's films were well-received, earning him the affectionate nickname "Medama no Matchan" ("Eyeballs" Matsu), after his large eyes.

They largely followed the conventions of kabuki theater; for example, except for those made during the last years of his career, his movies featured male oyama actors in the female roles.

Some critics have pointed to this economization, as well as to such elements as overexposure of some films causing the actors' facial features to wash out, as evidence of primitive film-making.

Like many other early Japanese films, Onoe's works were largely destroyed by a combination of inadequate preservation in Japan's climate, the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, and the bombing during and occupation following World War II.