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Grant Imahara

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Grant Imahara
Imahara in 2013
Born
Grant Masaru Imahara

(1970-10-23)October 23, 1970
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedJuly 13, 2020(2020-07-13) (aged 49)
Cause of deathBrain aneurysm
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
Occupations
  • Electrical engineer
  • roboticist
  • television host

Grant Masaru Imahara (October 23, 1970 – July 13, 2020)[1] was an American electrical engineer, roboticist, and television host. He was best known for his work on the television series MythBusters, in which he designed and built numerous robots that were needed for the show, and specialized in operating the various computers and electronics that were utilized to test myths.

Imahara starred in the Netflix series White Rabbit Project released on December 9, 2016.[2]

Early life

Imahara was born on October 23, 1970, to a Japanese-American family in Los Angeles, California. Imahara was a graduate of the University of Southern California, with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.[3] For a time, he seriously considered switching majors, with the intention of becoming a screenwriter; he decided to stay on the engineering track after assisting Tomlinson Holman, a professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.[4] Imahara was also a passionate LARPer, as revealed on White Rabbit Project.[citation needed]

Career

Early work

After graduation, Imahara was hired as an engineer for Lucasfilm's THX division; he then moved to the company's visual effects division, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), where he worked for nine years. While at ILM, he was involved in films such as The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Galaxy Quest, AI: Artificial Intelligence, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Van Helsing, and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.[5]

Imahara is credited in many feature films as a model maker. In particular, he is credited for his work in updating the aging R2-D2 robots for the Star Wars prequel trilogy.[6] As an official Artoo Technician, he makes a cameo appearance in the mockumentary R2-D2: Beneath the Dome.[7]

MythBusters

See also: List of MythBusters cast members
Imahara (left) with Mythbusters hosts Jamie Hyneman (middle) and Adam Savage at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con

Imahara joined MythBusters on the invitation of friend and occasional employer Jamie Hyneman[8] and former ILM colleague Linda Wolkovitch, who was an associate producer of MythBusters. He joined as the third member of the Build Team alongside Kari Byron and Tory Belleci, replacing former MythBusters welder Scottie Chapman. His colleagues often jokingly refer to him as the "geek" of the Build Team. He often made the robots that are needed for the show and otherwise specializes in operating the computers and electronics for the myths.[5] Imahara, along with Byron and Belleci, left the show after the 2014 season.[9]

White Rabbit Project

Imahara reunited with Byron and Belleci for the 2016 White Rabbit Project, a Netflix Original Series, in which the team investigates topics such as jailbreaks, superpower technology, heists, and bizarre World War II weapons, evaluated against a defined set of criteria and explored through experiments, builds, and tests.[10] The complete first season of the series was released on the Netflix streaming service December 9, 2016, but the series was not renewed.[11]

Other work

In addition to his role on MythBusters, he is known for his appearances on BattleBots, where he designed and competed with his robot Deadblow. By 2018, he was selected as one of the judges for the eighth season on "BattleBots". He also has a cameo appearance on Syfy's Eureka and the web series The Guild. Other works include designing the circuit that creates the rhythmic oscillation of the arms of the modern Energizer Bunny;[6] leading Team ILM to victory in an appearance on Junkyard Mega-Wars; as well as authoring Kickin' Bot: An Illustrated Guide to Building Combat Robots (ISBN 0-7645-4113-7)[6]

Imahara was a cast member and story writer for the short film Architects of Evil, created for the 2004 Industrial Light and Magic Backyard Film Contest.[12] He mentored the Richmond High robotics team Biomechs #841 (Richmond Ca.) for the FIRST Robotics Competition, lending his expert guidance on how to create the right robot for the right job.[13] Imahara was profiled in the magazine IEEE Spectrum, in an issue focusing on engineering dream jobs. The article is titled "Grant Imahara: Debunker in The Box"; he is shown in a fire-resistant suit on the cover.[14]

One of Imahara's independent projects, during early 2010, was constructing a robotic sidekick for Craig Ferguson, host of The Late Late Show.[15] The robot, named Geoff Peterson, was unveiled on the April 5, 2010 Late Late Show episode and is controlled and voiced by comedian and voice actor Josh Robert Thompson.[16]

Imahara portrayed Hikaru Sulu in all 11 episodes of the web series Star Trek Continues.[11][5] He also played Lt. Masaru in the 2015 movie Star Trek Renegades.[17]

Imahara was a guest on TWiT's Triangulation (Episode 121) on September 25, 2013.[18] He also partnered with Mouser Electronics to kick off their "Empowering Innovation Together" campaign, where he hosted several webisodes.[19]

In 2015, he appeared in the TV movie Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No![20]

Imahara took an active part in advising Team USA in a giant-robot battle between American company MegaBots and Japanese company Suidobashi Heavy Industry.[21]

Imahara hosted the second season of the web series The Home of the Future, produced by The Verge in partnership with Curbed.[22]

On October 18, 2017, Imahara tweeted that he had been consulting for Walt Disney Imagineering for six months, for a "top secret" project.[23] On May 21, 2018, Imahara was included as an author on the Disney Research paper "Stickman: Towards a Human Scale Acrobatic Robot", which explores the creation of "a simple two degree of freedom robot that uses a gravity-driven pendulum launch and produces a variety of somersaulting stunts".[24] On June 29, 2018, Disney revealed that the Stickman prototype had evolved into an innovative, autonomous, self-correcting, acrobatic style of audio-animatronic figure, named Stuntronics, which will be utilized within Disney theme parks throughout the world.[25]

Personal life and death

In December 2016, Imahara became engaged to his long-time girlfriend, costume designer Jennifer Newman.[26]

Imahara died after suffering a brain aneurysm as announced on July 13, 2020, at the age of 49.[5]

References

  1. ^ Date information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding WorldCat Identities linked authority file (LAF).
  2. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 4, 2016). "Netflix Greenlights 'White Rabbit Project' Reality Series From 'Mythbusters' Producers". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  3. ^ "USC Alumni Association - Grant Imahara Class of '93". University of Southern California. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  4. ^ Mammy, Joe (May 27, 2007). "Have Soldering Gun, Will Travel". Joe-Mammy.com. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d "Grant Imahara, Host of 'MythBusters' and 'White Rabbit Project,' Dies at 49". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Grant Imahara’s Hollywood Dream Machines Archived October 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Beneath The Dome - Credits". StarWars.com. Lucasfilm. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008.
  8. ^ Thomas, Christian M. (March 29, 2008). "'Mythbuster' Grant Imahara gives Northeast State audience lowdown on popular show". timesnews.net. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  9. ^ Leopold, Todd. "MythBusters' losing some regulars". CNN. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  10. ^ "'Mythbusters' Build Team is back in the first trailer for 'White Rabbit Project'". Digital Trends. November 28, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Mordeu, Jordan (July 13, 2020). "Grant Imahara, 'Mythbusters' Host, Dies at 49". Variety. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  12. ^ "ILM - Architects of Evil". Fan Films. TheForce.Net. April 2004. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  13. ^ Richmond High School Robotics Team Archived October 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Svoboda, Elizabeth (February 2006). "Grant Imahara: Debunker in The Box". Spectrum. IEEE. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  15. ^ Hibberd, James (March 1, 2010). "Mythbuster: I can build Ferguson a robot sidekick". The Live Feed. Archived from the original on August 30, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  16. ^ Tucker, Ken (April 5, 2010). "Grant Imahara on creating and unveiling Craig Ferguson's robot skeleton sidekick tonight: Geoff Peterson lives!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  17. ^ "A new (unofficial) Star Trek movie premieres this weekend". MeTV. July 29, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  18. ^ Triangulation 121: Grant Imahara. TWiT.tv. September 26, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2020 – via Youtube.
  19. ^ "Empowering Innovation with Grant Imahara - Mouser". Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  20. ^ Pederson, Eric (July 13, 2020). "Grant Imahara Dies: Former 'MythBusters' & 'White Rabbit Project' Host Was 49". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  21. ^ Feeney, Nolan (August 19, 2015). "A Team of Americans Is Building a Giant Robot to Challenge Japan In Hand to Hand Combat". Time. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  22. ^ "We built the Home of the Future with Grant Imahara". The Verge. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  23. ^ Imahara, Grant (October 17, 2017). "Today marks 6 months consulting for @Disney Imagineering. Wish I could show you what I've been building, but it's still top secret!". @grantimahara. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  24. ^ "Stickman: Towards a Human Scale Acrobatic Robot". Disney Research. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  25. ^ Panzarino, Matthew (June 28, 2018). "Disney Imagineering has created autonomous robot stunt doubles". Tech Crunch. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  26. ^ Casino, Khier (December 8, 2016). "Beloved MythBusters host proposes to long-time girlfriend with $20,000 ring". NextShark. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
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