As I mentioned previously, in 2014 I had the pleasure of meeting two Godzilla actors at Monsterpalooza in Burbank, including the man inside my favorite Godzilla suit from 1984-1995, Kenpachiro Satsuma.
As with the original Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima, I was pleased to be able to get a photo signed in which he was featured outside of the suit.
Satsuma starred opposite the original Godzilla suit actor in the following Showa era Godzilla films:
- Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) as Hedorah
- Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) as Gigan
- Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) as Gigan
He would then assume the role as the King of the Monsters throughout the Heisei era in:
- The Return of Godzilla (1984)
- Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
- Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
- Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
- Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
- Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
- Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
Though the baton was passed to Tsutomu Kitagawa for the Millennium era, Satsuma will always be the actor who portrayed the role in my favorite era of Godzilla films.
Kenpachiro Satsuma passed away last December at the age of 76.
Check back next week for another item from my Godzilla collection!
