Original Godzilla actor Akira Takarada, shot by a Russian in WWII, dies at 87
- Played the lead role of a heroic ship’s captain in the first Godzilla, a film that resonated in Japan as a walking, radiation-breathing analogy for nuclear disaster
- In 1945 he was shot in the stomach by a Soviet soldier and severely wounded; He believed ‘the greatest sin committed by man is war’
Japanese actor Akira Takarada, who starred in the original 1954 Godzilla and several later films featuring the city-wrecking monster, has died in Tokyo aged 87.
Takarada, who appeared at the premiere of his latest film earlier this month, passed away in hospital having contracted pneumonia, Japanese media reported Friday.
“We are saddened to hear of the passing of Akira Takarada. May his memory continue to inspire the lives of many Godzilla fans,” said a tweet posted by the official account of the Godzilla franchise.
Takarada quickly rose to stardom after playing the lead role of a heroic ship’s captain in the first Godzilla, a film that resonated in Japan as a walking, radiation-breathing analogy for nuclear disaster.
Just nine years earlier, the country had suffered the world’s first, and still only, atomic bomb attacks at the hands of the United States in the closing days of World War II.
Takarada also played a small role in The End of Summer, a 1961 film by cinematic master Yasujiro Ozu about a sake-brewing family in Kyoto.
The actor became popular in Asia around the same time, having appeared in joint Japan-Hong Kong productions with the actress Lucilla Yu Ming, and went on to star in many Japanese films and TV series.