RIP AKIRA TAKARADA 1934-2022

The Japanese icon has passed away.

I, like many of you grew up watching Godzilla films, and his was a very familiar face.

Takarada was in the first Godzilla film in 1954 and American audiences saw him in many other Toho films including "Half Human", "Mothra Vs. Godzilla", "Invasion Of The Astro Monsters", Ebirah, Horror Of The Deep", "King Kong Escapes" and much more.

He appeared in hundreds of movies in his native Japan, many of which were not or have not been seen by American audiences. He was a huge supporter of Japanese monster films as are many of the older Toho actors.

Akira Takarada passed away on March 14th, 2022 at the age of 87.