 |
| Above, Haruo Nakajima with a costumed fan in 2013. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
A year ago tomorrow (in Japan, it will be August 7 in two and a half hours), Godzilla fandom lost one of its best friends: Haruo Nakajima.
Last year, the Rafu Shimpo reported:
TOKYO – Haruo Nakajima, the Japanese actor who wore the Godzilla suit for about two decades from the monster movie series’ original, died of pneumonia on Monday, his daughter, Sonoe, said Tuesday. He was 88.
A native of Yamagata Prefecture, Nakajima aspired to become a movie actor as a teenager shortly after the end of World War II and played stunts in a number of movies in his early career. His first credited role was in Hiroshi Inagaki’s “Sword for Hire” (1952). He appeared in three of director Akira Kurosawa’s best-known films — “Seven Samurai” (1954), “The Hidden Fortress” (1958) and “Yojimbo” (1961).
Nakajima’s fire stunt performance as a warplane pilot in Ishiro Honda’s “Eagle of the Pacific” (1953) led to him getting the role of Godzilla the following year when the first of the series featuring the monster, also directed by Honda, was released.
In many respects, it is hard to imagine that Mr. Nakajima has left this mortal coil. But we are still fortunate to be able to enjoy his work through film.
To read the full Rafu Shimpo article, go here.
No comments:
Post a Comment