“Godzilla” star Akira Takarada is dead

Mourning for Akira Takarada: The Japanese actor Akira Takarada, who became famous with his role in the cult film “Godzilla”, has died. He was 87 years old.

Akira Takarada is dead. The Japanese actor died at the age of 87, according to the Toho film studio on Twitter. “We are saddened to hear of Akira Takarada’s passing,” the tweet said. “May his memory continue to inspire the lives of many ‘Godzilla’ fans.”

The production company is not releasing the date of death or the cause of the actor’s death. Akira Takarada is best known for his role in the first “Godzilla” film from 1954, where he played Hideto Ogata. At that time he was only 20 years old. The cult film, which brought in more than two million US dollars, marked the start of his acting career.

In the years that followed, Akira Takarada appeared in several other films of what is probably the world’s most famous movie monster. In addition to numerous other film roles, he also played in several series. But he also played in other strips. According to the film database “IMDb”, he was involved in 138 productions. His last film “Dance with Me” was shown in 2019.

“You are an icon, our hero”

Akira Takarada also worked as a voice actor. For example, he lent his voice to Jafar in several parts of the video game series “Kingdom Hearts” and also scored the Disney character in the Japanese version of the animated film “Aladdin”, originally released in 1992.

Many fans say goodbye to the actor online. “Thank you for the many great memories,” wrote a user on Twitter, for example. “Thank you Akira Takarada for loving ‘Godzilla’ so much,” commented another. “You are an icon, our hero.”