Ishiro Honda
The director of the original Godzilla.
Ishiro Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films over five decades. He is best remembered for creating the kaiju genre with special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, and is regarded as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker before Hayao Miyazaki.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 7 May 1911
- Birthplace
- Asahi, Yamagata, Empire of Japan
- Died
- 28 February 1993
- Place of death
- Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
- Resting place
- Fuji Cemetery, Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan
- Education
- Nihon University
- Occupation
- Film director
- screenwriter
- film editor
- actor
- Years active
- 1934–1992
Lore & Background
Honda entered the film industry in 1934 as a third assistant director and spent 15 years as an assistant before his debut, the short documentary Ise-Shima (1949). His first feature, The Blue Pearl (1952), was a critical success.
In 1954 he directed and co-wrote Godzilla, a box-office success whose franchise is recognised by Guinness World Records as the longest-running film franchise.
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Elsewhere in Godzilla
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