12/26/1927 - Kyogo, South Korea
Date of Death:
7/25/1984 - Tokyo, Japan
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1954) - Dr. Serizawa
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) - Dr. Shigezawa
Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964) - Police Chief Okita
Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966) - Red Bamboo Officer
Son of Godzilla (1967) - Fujisaki
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974) - Prof. Hideto Miyajima
Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975) - Dr. Shinji Mafune
PLUS MANY MORE
Akihiko Hirata was born on December 16 of 1927 in Kyogo, Korea. He was a graduate of Tokyo University Law Department. He joined Toho in 1953 and debuted in the Mashito Makino youth drama Embrace, paired with Yamaguchi and Toshiro Mifune. Hirata also appeared as a restless youth character in Even the Mighty Shed Tears, a performance which Ishiro Honda admired to the point that he asked Hirata to appear in his next feature, Farewell Rabaul.
After accepting the role of the scientist Dr. Serizawa in the first Godzilla film, he went on to appear in many Toho special effects films, including Rodan, The Mysterians, H-Man, Varan, Mothra, Gorath, Atragon, Kiska, Latitude Zero, The War in Space, and seven other Godzilla films. His final film appearance was in Sayonara Jupiter (1983), dying of cancer just prior to taking one of the lead roles in Godzilla 1984. He also had bit parts in a vast number of tv series before his death. He was especially good at portraying an internally tormented character as shown in his role as Dr. Serizawa. Before his death, during the Godzilla boom of 1983, he was extremely active, appearing in tv shows, parades, stage shows, etc.
