He was also the official Japanese dubbing voice actor of Clint Eastwood and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

His reason for applying, according to him, was that it was "the only university in the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League where the level is low and you can get regular playing time.".

[2] Yamada began his career after entering the School of Letters at Waseda University, where he joined a theater club.

[1] However, he could not do the comedy he wanted to do and could not endure the rigorous basic training every day, so he left the company after one year and became a freelancer.

In 1958, Kazuo Kumakura, with whom he had worked on several programs, invited him to join the Theater Echo, a theatrical troupe that focused on comedy, and he made his first stage appearance.

Yamada was asked to dub for Gary Merrill, who stars in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "The Manacled".

However, Yamada, who had been given the lead role immediately after joining the troupe and had an inflated ego, gave 5 NGs during rehearsals at the recording studio due to his inexperience in acting, and was eventually dropped from the role just before the performance after the staff criticized his performance.

[5] In 1959, he made his debut as a voice actor when he was selected by audition to dub for Clint Eastwood's Roddy in "Rawhide".

In animation, he was cast as Lupin III in 1971, a role he played for 23+1⁄2 years until his death, becoming his life's work.

He also worked as a TV personality, hosting the comedian audition program "Comedy Star Birth!

Yamada was known for his cheerful and jovial personality, often cracking jokes and sarcastic remarks to make others laugh.

On the other hand, he also has a shy and serious side, and during interviews, he could be seen candidly expressing his own opinions about his performance and work while bashfully stating them.

Note that only the eldest son has since become a writer of rakugo and other forms of entertainment, and his name is credited on several TV programs.

[8] Yamada had a strict work ethic that sometimes made his co-stars tense in the on-site recording studio.

He would also become furious and walk out of the studio when things did not make sense with the staff, but all of this was done to represent the feelings of the performers, and he was respected by many of his peers.

This was a huge success, and fans have come to call it "Eastwood's voice is Yamada," and its fame continues to this day.

[10] also, In an interview, Yamada himself said, "Unlike other dubbings, I feel relieved when I see Eastwood on the screen during recording."

In addition, Yamada carefully preserved the autographed colored paper presented by Eastwood at this time as a "lifelong treasure".

I liked the fast tempo, the pleasant rhythm, overflowing gag, the leaps and bounds that would make a serious person angry, and above all, the fact that it was not about a righteous bandit.

Then, the director gave Yamada a clipping of the original story of "Lupin III" by Monkey Punch, which was published in a magazine at the time, saying that it would be helpful.

Yamada was deemed by director Osumi to be "already established in the role" and finished recording without passing a single discussion from the Part 1 of the Lupin series.

While Yamada was frustrated by this, he and the rest of the cast struggled to make the finished product bearable for adult viewers with the performers.

This and other events led Yamada to gradually reflect his own personality in Lupin, including improvisational acting and his unique accent and turns of phrase.

The original author, Monkey Punch, said of Yamada's Lupin: "'Lupin III' is certainly a comic I drew, but it is only the world of the printed book and not yet completed.

Makio Inoue, who played the role of Goemon Ishikawa XIII for many years, said of Yamada's Lupin, "He was the one on whom the director depended.

Yamada had a very strong attachment to Lupin, stating that "there is almost no difference in the way he lives and thinks."

If I am no longer able to perform, I would like you to stop making new Lupin series, whether for a TV station or a movie company.

In 1993, during the postrecording of the "Lupin III: Voyage to Danger" Yamada looked very tired during a break and volunteered to sit in a chair during the recording.

At that time, Yamada apologized to his co-stars and left the studio, feeling extremely depressed.

At the same time, Yamada recorded a TVCs for Esso Japan featuring Lupin as its image character.