Japanese actor Shinichi Chiba, known abroad as Sonny Chiba, who dazzled action movie fans around the world with martial arts prowess, died Thursday at a hospital near Tokyo due to pneumonia associated with COVID-19, his agency said. He was 82.

Following his infection with the coronavirus in late July, Chiba initially stayed at home but was hospitalized in Chiba Prefecture near the capital on Aug. 8 and received an oxygen supply. The actor had not been vaccinated, the agency said.

Chiba was born as Sadaho Maeda in Fukuoka in 1939, and moved to Chiba Prefecture when he was 4.