Caption: Still of Akihiko Hirata, Momoko Kôchi, Takashi Shimura, Akira Takarada and Ren Yamamoto in Gojira (1954)
Actor
Born: December 26, 1927
Star sign: Capricorn
Known for: Godzilla (1954), Sanjuro (1962), Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Source: IMDB
He had an unusual background for an actor: his formal education began in a kindergarten founded by the wartime-era Japanese Imperial Army, and continued in a military academy which was Tokyo's answer to West Point. Upon graduating from Tokyo University (Japan's most prestigious), Hirata confounded many family expectations of him by pursuing a ...