After 60 years, Godzilla finally landed in Boise! This was the original 1954 monster classic. The movie was shown the day before the newest Godzilla release. It was such a great experience for us to know how Boise loved Original Godzilla.
Behind the original Godzilla suit
If you’ve seen Godzilla, then chances are you’re a fan of Haruo Nakajima, the guy in the original Godzilla suit.
Nakajima played Godzilla from 1954 to 1972, well before CGI replaced the gritty, hard work of destroying Tokyo. The original Godzilla suit weighed over 200 pounds and was like wrapping a couch around your body.
Nakajima often had to walk 20 to 30 feet, all while kicking down buildings and ripping (fake) jet airplanes from the (fake) Japanese sky. Nakajima routinely fainted while walking in the suit and lost over 20 pounds during the original film.
Toho Studios tries to provide Nakajima a backup actor during filming of the original movie, but they couldn’t find anyone to muscle the suit longer than 10 feet, and act.
The actor was in over 30 movies, playing everything from Manbat in Latitude Zero to Gaira in The War of the Gargantuas.
Nakajima has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He still lives in Tokyo.