Thursday, January 01, 2004
1/1: Today in G-History
1879: PAUL PORCASI, who played the apple vendor in "King Kong", is born in Palermo, Sicily.
1910: RUSS BENDER, who played Richard Kingman in "The Amazing Colossal Man" and Dr. Carmichael in "War of the Colossal Beast", is born in New York City.
1924: TERUO ISHII, who directed the Starman films — released in the U.S. as "Atomic Rulers", "Invaders From Space", "Attack from Space", and "Evil Brain From Outer Space" — is born in Tokyo. Best known for his action films starring Ken Takakura and his "Women’s Prison" films, his other titles include "Nude Actress Murder — Five Criminals", "Story of Showa Chivalry", "Abarashi Prison", "The Joys of Torture", "Horror of a Malformed Man", "Story of a Wild Older Sister — Widespread Lynch Law", "The Executioner", "Field of Villains", and "Jigoku"
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1929: Suit actor HARUO NAKAJIMA is born in Yamagata, Japan. He played Godzilla in "Godzilla, King of the Monsters", "Godzilla Raids Again", "King Kong vs. Godzilla", "Godzilla vs. the Thing", "Ghidrah — the Three-Headed Monster", "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero", "Godzilla versus the Sea Monster", "Son of Godzilla", "Destroy All Monsters", "Godzilla’s Revenge", "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster", and "Godzilla on Monster Island". He also played the title monsters in "Rodan", "Varan the Unbelievable", "Mothra", "Attack of the Mushroom People", and "King Kong Escapes", as well as Mogera in "The Mysterians", Magma in "Gorath", Baragon in "Frankenstein Conquers the World", Gaila in "War of the Gargantuas", monsters on "Ultra Q" and "Ultraman", the flying lion and a giant rat in "Latitude Zero", and Gezora in "Yog — Monster from Space", and he was the stunt coordinator on most of these films. He can be seen in human form as a bandit in "The Seven Samurai", "The Invisible Man", a victim of "The H-Man", a transitional vapor man in "The Human Vapor", a general in "Destroy All Monsters", and the prime minister’s chauffeur in "Tidal Wave".
1937: KUMI MIZUNO is born Maya Igarishi in Niigata, Japan. The sexy actress was in "The Three Treasures", Kesuke Shinoda in "Gorath", actress Mami Sekiguchi in "Attack of the Mushroom People", Miwa the rebel leader in "The Lost World of Sinbad", Dr. Sueko Togami in "Frankenstein Conquers the World", Miss Namikawa in "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero", Daiyo in "Godzilla versus the Sea Monster", Akemi in "War of the Gargantuas", Prime Minister Machiko Tsuge in "Godzilla x Mechagodzilla", and "Godzilla: Final Wars". Mizuno also appeared in "The Killing Bottle" with three-time costar Nick Adams, with whom she denies any romantic involvement, as well as "Crazy Society", "Chushingura", and "What’s Up, Tiger Lily?".
1938: MASAHARU UEDA, cinematographer on "ESPY" and "The Last Dinosaur", is born in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan.
1960: SHINYA TSUKAMOTO, who was producer, director, screenwriter, art director, director of photography, and played the metals fetishist in "Tetsuo: The Iron Man" and "Tetsuo II: Body Hammer", is born in Tokyo. He was also in "Sakuya: Slayer of Demons".
1967: Episode 25 of "Ultraman", "Weird Comet Tsuifon", debuts on Japanese TV.
1969: VERNE TROYER, who did the stunts for Ferbus on Saban’s "Masked Rider", is born in Sturgis, Mich. The 2’8" actor is best known as Mini-Me from the Austin Powers films.
1972: Episode 40 of "Kamen Rider", "Desperate Struggle! Demon Snowman vs. Two Riders", debuts on Japanese TV.
1974: The "Super Robo Mach Baron" movie is released in Japan.
1975: Daisuke Ban, Kikaida, Kikaida 01, Hakaider, and six monsters make an appearance in Honolulu.
1983: DAVID BUTTOLPH, composer on "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", dies in Poway, Calif.
1988: The final episode of "Super Manchine: Metalder", "Eternally Metalder!", debuts on Japanese TV.
1993: JOHN BLYTH BARRYMORE, who played Avery in "Solar Crisis", marries Rebecca Justine Pogrow.
1994: CESAR ROMERO, who played Malic in "Latitude Zero" and best known as the Joker on "Batman", dies from bronchitis and pneumonia in Santa Monica, Calif.
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