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MSTies will remember him as the titular star of the film featured in episode 213- GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER.

Born January 1, 1929, in Yamagata, Japan, Nakajima was a young actor and stuntman at Toho Studios, appearing in such films as Akira Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai” and Ishiro Honda’s “Eagle over the Pacific”, when he was given the job that would define him — donning the 220-lb. suit to play a 50-meter, fire-breathing radioactive dinosaur in the film “Gojira”, later distributed worldwide as “Godzilla, King of the Monsters.”

“Katsumi Tezuka and I both tried on the Godzilla costume during the first day of shooting,” said Nakajima in an interview with David Milner of “Kaiju Conversations. “The costume was very stiff and heavy. I could walk about thirty feet in it, but Mr. Tezuka could only walk about ten feet in it. There were three cables coming out of the back of the costume. Two were for the operation of the eyes, and one was for the operation of the mouth. Eizo Kaimai was responsible for the movement of the eyes and the mouth. The ASA speed of the film that was used at the time was very slow, so the set had to be very brightly lit. Another actor complained that the lights made it too hot inside the costume, but I never complained.”

Despite the weight, heat, explosions and a near-drowning experience in a water scene, Nakajima was Toho’s monster man for 18 years. He continued to play the iconic kaiju in “Godzilla Raids Again”, “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” “Mothra vs. Godzilla,” “Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster,” “Godzilla vs. Monster Zero,” “Sea Monster,” “Son of Godzilla,” “Destroy All Monsters,” “Godzilla vs. Hedorah” and “Godzilla vs. Gigan”. In the latter two films, he battled monsters played by Kenpachiro Satsuma, who would go on to play Godzilla from 1985 to 1995.

He also played the monsters in “Rodan,” “The Mysterians” (as the robot Mogera), “Varan the Unbelievable,” “Mothra” (working the larva’s head), “Matango” (as a mushroom man), “Frankenstein Conquers the World” (as Baragon), “War of the Gargantuas” (as Gaira the Green Gargantua, a role he particularly liked due to the suit’s light weight and being able to see out the monster’s eye holes), “King Kong Escapes,” “Latitude Zero” (as the winged lion and a giant rat), and “Yog, Monster from Space” (as Gezora). He also served monster duties on the TV series “Ultra Q”, “Ultraman” and “Ultra Seven.” He also choreographed the monster battles in these films.

Occasionally, he got a bit part in human form. You can see Nakajima in human form as a doomed sailor in “The H-Man” and a general in “Destroy All Monsters”.

In his later years, Nakajima was a frequent guest at sci-fi conventions worldwide, particularly ones with Godzilla themes.

“Inside the Godzilla suit, it was very dark, lonely and isolated,” said special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano. “Usually the person who wears the suit becomes nervous and anxious. During summertime it’s very hot, it can become hell in there. But Mr. Nakajima always persevered. He acted in the suit underwater, he was buried underground, he withstood pyrotechnic explosions … and through it all he was always Godzilla.”