Akira Takarada (1934-2022)

 

Akira Takarada was one of the true legends of fantastic cinema. 

Takarada not only appeared in the very first original Godzilla movie made back in 1954, he made several other appearances in the classic series of science-fiction/fantasy films made by Toho Studios in the 1960s. He starred in two of the greatest kaiju films ever made--MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA and INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER. He also had the lead human role in EBIRAH, HORROR OF THE DEEP, playing a different kind of character than his usual clean-cut hero. Takarada was also in KING KONG ESCAPES and LATITUDE ZERO. In later years he would have small roles in GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1992) and GODZILLA: FINAL WARS.

Takarada brought a strong screen presence and a sincere professionalism to all the kaiju movies he was in. The plots of these films may have been utterly fantastic, but Takarada never acted in them as if they were a joke. The human actors in Japanese Kaiju Cinema never get much respect, but Takarada, with his believable and likable characterizations, made his science fiction forays more entertaining. 

As an American, my exposure to Takarada has only been through his kaiju films, but he was a mainstream celebrity in Japan. (He was even referred to as the "Clark Gable" of that country.) The actor was still working recently in various media. 

I'm honored to say I got to meet Akira Takarada twice. The first time was at the 2012 G Fest Convention just outside of Chicago. I got to the event early, and I and a number of other attendees were waiting in the hotel lobby for the convention to open up. A very distinguished-looking, well-dressed Japanese gentleman walked into the lobby, carrying a briefcase. It was none other than Akira Takarada himself, and he soon was deluged by fans. Even though the convention hadn't even officially started yet, Mr. Takarada made time for everyone who approached him, and treated everyone with respect and courtesy. I waited for the crowd to die down and I managed to have a short chat with him, and get a picture taken (see above). The man on the right of the photo is Bin Furuya, the original Ultraman, who saw us posing and decided he wanted to be in on it as well. 

The second time I met Mr. Takarada was at the 2016 G Fest. The big news at this convention was that Takarada was appearing with his KING KONG ESCAPES co-star, Linda Miller. Of course I had to get my picture taken with them (see below). While waiting in line to meet them there was a couple of young girls ahead of me dressed as the twin fairies from MOTHRA. When Takarada saw them he started singing the "Mothra" song....was that a fanboy moment of what??

Each time I got to meet and observe Akira Takarada, I was impressed by his kindness and affability toward everyone. He certainly wasn't embarrassed about being associated with Godzilla movies--he seemed to revel in it, I've spent a lot of my life dealing with snarky remarks about those "dopey movies" that I watch--but interacting with wonderful people like Akira Takarada makes it all worthwhile.