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| Above, Kenpachiro Satsuma and yours truly at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for G-FEST 2000. |
Sad news has been reported.
Heisei Godzilla suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma has passed away today at age 76. He portrayed Godzilla from Return of Godzilla (1994) to Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995).
I met Mr. Satsuma in 2000 at G-FEST 2000 at the Hollywood Roosevel Hotel.
From Wikipedia:
Kenpachiro Satsuma (薩摩剣八郎, Satsuma Kenpachirō, May 27, 1947 – December 16, 2023), born Yasuaki Maeda (前田靖昭, Maeda Yasuaki) was a Japanese actor and stuntman who portrayed Godzilla in the Heisei films, from 1984 to 1995.
Born in Kagoshima Prefecture, Satsuma began his acting career in the 1960s with small roles in samurai films. In 1971 he was offered the role of the smog monster antagonist Hedorah in Godzilla vs. Hedorah, opposite Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla. He went on to play Gigan in two further Godzilla films. When Nakajima retired from the Godzilla role in 1972, substitutes were hired between 1973 and 1975 until Satsuma took over permanently in 1984. His portrayal took the character away from the humour of the character's portrayals over the past decades, returning to the more animalistic Godzilla persona of the original 1954 film.
While filming Godzilla movies, Satsuma would regularly pass out on the set due to lack of oxygen while wearing the poorly ventilated and rubber suits; this was especially a problem during production of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, in which the steam effect on the suit (meant to represent Godzilla undergoing a nuclear meltdown) was achieved using pure carbon dioxide.
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| Above, two Godzillas, Kenpachiro Satsuma and Haruo Nakajima at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for G-FEST 2000. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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