Shoichi Hirose

Shoichi Hirose Born June 23, 1918 Japan Died Unknown; retired from acting in 1988 Notable role(s) Meganulon, King Kong, King Ghidorah, various bit parts First work Utahime Miyako e Yuku (1950) Notable work King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Shoichi Hirose  (広瀬 正一,   Hirose Shōichi), occasionally miscredited as Masakazu Hirose and nicknamed Solomon (ソロモン,   Soromon) in recognition of his survival in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, was a Japanese actor. Hirose played several bit roles in films by Toho in the Showa era, and also portrayed the kaiju King Kong in King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Ghidorah in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of Astro-Monster. Hirose is said to have died in a nursing home a few years after he retired, but the precise date of his death is unknown.

Selected filmography

• Godzilla (1954) as congressman [uncredited]
• Invisible Man (1954) as policeman
• Godzilla Raids Again (1955) as convict
• Half Human (1955) as member of search party [uncredited]
• Rodan (1956) as fighter pilot / Meganulon
• The Mysterians (1957) as detective
• The H-Man (1958) as fire captain
• Varan (1958) as fisherman
• Monkey Sun (1959) as native chief
• The Three Treasures (1959) as Kumaso soldier
• The Secret of the Telegian (1960) as Onishi's henchman
• The Human Vapor (1960) as prison guard
• Mothra (1961) dam watchman
• King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) as King Kong
• Atragon (1963) as Mu henchman
• Dogora (1964) coal truck driver
• Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) as villager / King Ghidorah [with Haruya Sakamoto]
• Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965) as tunnel worker
• Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) as King Ghidorah
• The War of the Gargantuas (1966) as mountain guide
• Monster Booska (TV 1966-1967) as military commander [episode 29] / tanuki bandit [episodes 33-34] / Samekichi [episode 38]
• Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) as Infant Islander slave
• King Kong Escapes (1967) as Explorer crewman
• Fight! Mighty Jack (TV 1968) as security guard [episode 20]
• Here Comes Golden Bat (1972)
• Submersion of Japan: Television Series (TV 1974-1975) as Shimoda fireman [episode 1; uncredited] / driver [episode 7]
• Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) as worker
• House (1977) as ramen shop customer
• Princess from the Moon (1987) as villager

Gallery

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  Masaki Shinohara, Haruo Nakajima and Shoichi Hirose holding miniatures of the kaiju they portrayed in Invasion of Astro-Monster

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External links

• Shoichi Hirose's filmography on the official Toho website

References

This is a list of references for Shoichi Hirose. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

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