[3][4] He made his film debut with Kihachi Okamoto's Kill!.
[5] Chii married actress Saori Maki in 1974 and had one daughter with her.
[6] Chii was initially diagnosed with angina after a hospitalization in 1996, and warned by a doctor to not push himself too hard.
[2] Chii had multiple hospitalizations in 2012, after initially going to the hospital in January of that year due to concerns of vision loss.
[7][4] On 29 June 2012, Chii died of heart failure at the age of 70.