Legendary Godzilla actor Akira Takarada passed away on March 14 at the age of 87."We are saddened to hear of the passing of Akira Takarada," Toho's official Godzilla account tweeted. "May his memory continue to inspire the lives of many Godzilla fans."

Born in 1934, Takarada's first credited role was in 1954's Mizugi no hanayome. That same year, he'd play Hideto Ogata in the very first Godzilla film, and he reprised the role in 1956's Godzilla: King of the Monsters! and 1957's Godzilla. Takarada returned to the franchise in 1964 as Ichiro Sakai in Mothra vs. Godzilla before playing K. Fuji in 1965's Invasion of the Astro-Monster, Yoshimura in 1966's Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and Ogata again in 1977's Godzilla. He returned once more in 1992 for Godzilla vs. Mothra, playing Joji Minamino, and then again as Naotarô Daigo in 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars. His last role in the franchise was as a Japanese immigration agent in 2014's Godzilla, which is part of Legendary's current MonsterVerse. However, his scenes were ultimately cut from the film.

Outside of Godzilla, Takarada is known for dubbing the voice of Jafar in Japanese versions of Aladdin, The Return of Jafar and the Kingdom Hearts video games.

Source: Twitter