<span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">A</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> giant of the film industry, the man who portrayed the very first iconic movie monster Godzilla on-screen has died, prompting reflection on the series that made him a household name.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Japanese actor Haruo Nakajima, 88, succumbed to pneumonia on Monday after being hospitalised last month.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Nakajima first pulled on the scaly lizard suit in </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Toho Studios' 1954 film </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Godzilla</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">, and went on to appear in another 11 movies in the series, which has since run to 29, including the most recent reboot </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Shin Godzilla </em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">(2016).</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">His final appearance as the monster was in the 1972 instalment </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Godzilla vs Gigan</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">.</span> ______________ <strong>Read more: </strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/new-godzilla-game-adds-cool-ferocity-ditches-nuclear-references-1.99333">New Godzilla game adds cool ferocity, ditches nuclear references</a></strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/godzilla-a-walking-nuclear-reactor-1.243521">Godzilla: A walking nuclear reactor</a></strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/godzilla-to-open-in-the-uae-but-japanese-fans-still-unnimpressed-1.247596">Godzilla to open in the UAE but Japanese fans still unimpressed</a></strong> ______________ <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">The film legend began his career at the age of 33 in </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Sword for Hire</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">. He was originally contracted to Toho Studios as a stunt performer and appeared in small, often uncredited roles in several samurai and war films – including portraying a bandit in Akira Kurosawa's 1954 masterpiece </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Seven Samurai</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> – before he got his (very) big break in the soon-to-be legendary </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Godzilla</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> later that year.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">As the giant lizard Godzilla, Nakajima was required to wear a concrete bodysuit weighing up to 100 kilograms – the oft-ridiculed rubber suits of the movie legend would not come until later due to the shortage of rubber in Japan after the Second World War.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">The actor told </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>CBS News</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> in a 2014 interview that the temperature inside the cumbersome costume reached up to 60 degrees Celsius.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Nakajima said he based Godzilla's movements on observing gorillas and elephants – interestingly, not lizards – at his local zoo, and also by watching the original 1933</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em> King Kong</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> film.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">His monster movement observations served him well. In the 20 years following his debut, the actor would go on to be the go-to costume actor of Japanese Kaiju (monster) cinema. He played a pterodactyl-like insect in</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em> Rodan</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> (1956), then another giant insect, Mothra, in Toho's 1961 Kaiju film of the same name. In a postmodern twist, he then played his trademark Godzilla battling Mothra in </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Mothra vs Godzilla </em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">(1964); Manbat in</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em> Latitude Zero </em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">(1969), and even got the chance to portray his original simian inspiration, King Kong, in the 1967 United States/Japanese co-production </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>King Kong Escapes</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Nakajima may no longer be with us, but his memory will be well-served by the ongoing popularity of his most famous character. There have already been a number of Hollywood adaptations of the adventures of the rampant reptile, as well as cartoons, comic books, video games and even a colourised and re-edited Italian remake</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">, </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Cozzilla</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">And there is plenty more to come. The original concept of a mutated, radioactive giant lizard-dinosaur creature may have been very much a product of post-Hiroshima Japan but the character's popularity shows no signs of waning in the 21st century.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">The next, animated, instalment in the Toho franchise is due on Netflix later this year, while in Hollywood, Warner Brothers has two movies starring the much-loved monster on the slate – Michael Dougherty's </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Godzilla: King of the Monsters</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">, due in 2019, And Adam Wingard's </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Godzilla vs Kong</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> the following year.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">As the actor told</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em> The Big Story</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> in</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> March this year: "In the end, the Godzilla I played remains on film forever. It remains in people's memory, and for that I feel really grateful."</span>