The Godzilla fandom was hit with devastating news earlier this week as it was revealed that Haruo Nakajima, the suit actor for Godzilla from 1954-1972 had passed away at the age of 88 from pneumonia.

Though his acting career began in 1952’s Sword for Hire, Godzilla was Nakajima’s first big role, one that would last him 12 films over the course of 18 years.

“At that time, there was an elephant from India there called Indira and I observed how it walked,” said Nakajima, sharing his inspiration for Godzilla’s movements with The Tokyo Reporter back in 2014. “So Godzilla’s style of walking came from an elephant.”

In addition to elephants, the actor also studied the movements of birds and bears to create the unique movements of the famous kaiju. While the role of Godzilla is considered iconic, this wasn’t always the case, and Nakajima faced criticism from being a suit actor.

“Back then, people didn’t speak positively of suit actors. There’d be whispers going around that working inside (a suit) is not an acting job,” said Nakajima, though the job itself paid well. It would also earn him international recognition, and he was made an honorary citizen of Los Angeles in 2011. Though he was cycled out of the studio’s contract system in the 1970s, he started touring the convention circuit in the 1990s, making appearances at Japanese monster conventions, as well as Monsterpalooza in 2011. In addition to acting and convention appearances, Nakajima also wrote an autobiography titled Monster Life: Haruo Nakajima, the Original Godzilla Actor in 2010. His final appearance as Godzilla was in 1972 ‘s Godzilla vs. Gigan.  

Great Big Story did a video on Nakajima back in March that is definitely worth a watch if you want to know more about the iconic suit actor.