Best known for playing Shin Hayata, the protagonist and alter-ego of the titular Ultraman (1966) in the original television series. Outside of Ultraman his film roles were comparatively meager, and he typically played seedy gangster-types or henchmen. He’s best seen as one of the assassins in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964). He’s also seen speaking some English in Latitude Zero (1969) as one of Cesar Romero’s submarine pilots.

Kurobe has cameo roles in Masaaki Tezuka’s Godzilla X Megaguirus (2000, as a cabinet official), and in Minoru Kawasaki’s quasi-sequel spoof Monster X Strikes Back (2008, alongside actor Yosuke Natsuki).

Kurobe’s daughter, actress Takami Yoshimoto, portrayed the female lead in Ultraman Tiga (1996).