Akihiko Hirata Movies and Career Information

Akihiko Hirata (平田昭彦, Hirata Akihiko) (26 December 1927–25 July 1984) was a Japanese film actor. While Hirata starred in many movies (including Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai trilogy), he is most well known for his work in the kaiju genre, including such films as King Kong vs. Godzilla, The Mysterians, and his most famous role of Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, the brilliant but disturbed young scientist in the original Godzilla, released in 1954. Hirata died after a long battle with lung cancer in 1984, at age 56. Hirata was born in Keijo, Japan, in 1927, and was born into a wealthy family and educated at the prestigious Tokyo University's School of Interior Design. Before joining Shintoho as an assistant director (under his older brother, Yoshiki Onoda), Hirata moved into still photography, and eventually joined Toho in 1953, under the studio's "New Face" program, which would lead to his casting in Godzilla (although Hirata was originally intended for the part of Ogata, eventually played by another genre regular, Akira Takarada). Hirata's film debut came in 1953, with The Last Embrace. Hirata would go on to play everything from snarling villains to government officials, his long face and