RIP Yosuke Natsuki (1936-2018)

[Gwangi]

Sad to report that actor Yosuke Natsuki has died at the age of 81. Most of us will remember him as Detective Shindo in "Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster" as well as Dr. Hayashida in "Godzilla 1985". He was also Inspector Kommei in "Dogora, The Space Monster" as well as having a small, but memorable role in "Yojimbo" as the farmer's son who runs away from home to join gangsters (only to be persuaded by Toshiro Mifune to go back home in the end!).

Unfortunately, we are coming to a period, where some of our favorite Showa actors are leaving us.

[Benjamin Haines]

Sad news indeed. His time in the kaiju genre was fleeting but memorable. It's fun seeing him match wits with Robert Dunham in Dogora and unravel the mystery of the missing princess-turned-Venusian prophet in Ghidorah, both in 1964 and both showcasing him as a heroic cop who thwarts gangs of criminals with a little incidental help from giant monsters. His performance as Professor Hayashida brought a lot of gravitas to The Return of Godzilla. I'm glad he got to live a long life.

R.I.P Yosuke Natsuki

[lhb412]

Very sad to hear this. He was in three classics, and had a unique energy about him - gave off a much different vibe from any other Toho regular, you know?

[Gwangi]

"Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster" holds a special place in my heart. In the 1970s, it was the first 8mm film, my folks bought for me at K-Mart (after a lot of whining on my part!). It was the first Godzilla VHS (from Video Treasures) that I bought in the late 1980s. The movie worked beautifully, and not only because of the monsters, but also the very likable performance by Mr. Natsuki as Shindo, along of course, with Hiroshi Koizumi, Yuriko Hoshi and the Ito sisters. Since Legendary's "Godzilla 2", is more or less a remake of GTTHM, I was hoping that they would have brought along Yosuke Natsuki in a cameo, but alas that never came to fruition.

Hopefully, we will get a nice blu-ray of "Ghidrah" from Criterion when they decide to release these titles in that format.