One of Japan's finest actors and a descendant of the samurai class, Takashi Shimura was born March 12, 1905. He found success playing samurai characters and starred in the classic Seven Samurai. But later that year, he appeared in Godzilla as Dr. Kyohei Yamane-hakase, which made him famous outside of Japan. He reprised the role in the sequel Godzilla Raids Again. His final Godzilla appearance came in 1964 in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.
He passed away in February 1982.
