was a Japanese actor best known for playing

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...

in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original ''

'' (1954) until ''

Godzilla vs. Gigan , is a 1972 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Jun Fukuda, written by Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects-based subsidiary Toho-Eizo, ...

'' (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in '' kaiju'' films, including ''

Mothra is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that first appeared in the 1961 film '' Mothra'', produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho ''tokusatsu'' films, most often as a recurring character in the ''Godzilla'' ...

'' and ''

The War of the Gargantuas is a 1966 ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Referred by film historian Stuart Galbraith IV as a "quasi–sequel" to ''Frankenstein vs. Baragon'', the film was a Japanese-American co-production; it ...

'' and also appeared in a minor role in the

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

film '' Seven Samurai''.

Career

Nakajima was born in Yamagata. His first credited role in a motion picture was in the 1952 film '' Sword for Hire''. He began his career as a stunt actor in

samurai films , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of '' ...

and he acted in a small role in the 1954 film '' Seven Samurai'', portraying a bandit slain by master swordsman Kyūzo (

Seiji Miyaguchi was a Japanese actor who appeared in films of Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse, Tadashi Imai and many others. He succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 71. Distinctions One of Kurosawa's iconic '' Seven Samurai'', Miyaguchi won the 19 ...

). He was considered by many to be the best

suit actor A is a member of, usually, a Japanese tokusatsu production who works similar to a stunt performer. However, the suit actor does all of his or her stunts while in a full costume that normally obscures their identity (typically the transformed cha ...

in the long history of the Godzilla franchise. At the time,

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

's visual effects director,

Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ...

considered him completely invaluable, and he was employed to essay the roles of most of the '' kaiju'' (Japanese monsters) during his career as a suit actor. Before shooting began for the first ''

'' movie, in 1954, Nakajima said he spent a week at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, where he studied the motion of elephants and bears. He said he threw a piece of bread at the bears to see how they moved to catch it. He also studied the heavy, ponderous gait of the elephants. "When elephants walk, they never show the bottom of their feet," he said. When filming began, he said the original suit weighed 100 kilograms and required two men to help him put it on. "How can I act in this thing?" Nakajima said he asked himself. He eventually mastered the suit, and went on to teach the other suit actors who came after him. After 24 years, Nakajima retired from suit acting upon completion of ''

'' (1972), when the studio cycled him out of their contract actor system, after it split into several subsidiaries in 1970. He stayed employed by Toho for several years, and was reportedly transferred to a job at its bowling alley, located on the now defunct studio lot. Beginning in the late 1990s, Nakajima made a series of personal appearances at various Japanese monster-themed conventions. He appeared at the

Monsterpalooza Monsterpalooza is an American multigenre convention focusing on horror, creatures and makeup work. The convention takes place every spring in Los Angeles, California, most recently in the Pasadena Convention Center. A smaller offshoot conven ...

convention in Burbank,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in April 2011. His Japanese-language autobiography, ''『怪獣人生元祖ゴジラ俳優・中島春雄』'' (''Monster Life: Haruo Nakajima, the Original Godzilla Actor''), was released in 2010.

Death

On August 7, 2017, several media outlets reported that Nakajima had died, at the age of 88. The following day, on August 8, his daughter Sonoe Nakajima confirmed that he had died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. In 2018, asteroid 110408 Nakajima was named in his honour. The film '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters'' (2019) was dedicated to his memory.

Filmography

Godzilla Raids Again (1955) Behind the scenes

Film

Television

References

External links

* * Roberto, John Rocco. Shigeko Kojima (trans.) Winter 1999
"An Interview with Godzilla: Hauro Nakajima"
Originally published in ''Kaiju Fan''.
Biography of Haruo Nakajima in comic book format
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakajima, Haruo 1929 births 2017 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in Japan Japanese male film actors Japanese male television actors People from Yamagata Prefecture Godzilla (franchise)