Haruo Nakajima, the Japanese actor who was the first person to put on the Godzilla suit and bring the iconic monster to life, has died. He was 88.

Nakajima died Monday of pneumonia, his daughter and the Japanese movie studio Toho confirmed to multiple news outlets. Nakajima played Godzilla in the 1954 original and 11 subsequent films, donning the suit that he said weighed about 220 pounds and wreaking havoc on model cities and rival monsters. | More…

| NHPR