Japanese Academy Award nominee Ren Osugi died yesterday, February 21st, from acute heart failure. The actor was known by Godzilla fans as Prime Minister Seiji Okochi in the mega-hit Shin Godzilla. He was 66 years old.
Osugi had a massive, fruitful acting career spanning nearly four decades with 400 roles to his name. He won various, prestigious acting awards including a Kinema Junpo Award for his supporting role in Inu Hashiru (1998). He stared in Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive films and other tokusatsu, including Zebraman (2004). He also played the latest iteration of "Ambassador Hell" in Kamen Rider Decade: The Movie (2009) and Kamen Rider 1 (2016). [Pictured below.]
Our hearts, prayers and love go out to Mr. Osugi's surviving family. He had a wonderful career and the fanbase certainly won't forget his crucial contribution to the Godzilla series.
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Sources:
Yahoo Japan
Kotaku
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