Grant Imahara

Grant Imahara
Imahara in 2013
Born
Grant Masaru Imahara

(1970-10-23)October 23, 1970
DiedJuly 13, 2020(2020-07-13) (aged 49)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Southern California (BS)
Occupations
  • Electrical engineer
  • Roboticist
  • Television host
Known for

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, on which he designed, built and operated numerous robots and machines to test myths over the course of the show.

Imahara began his career at Lucasfilm, where he worked in the THX division as an engineer and in the Industrial Light & Magic division in visual effects. His work has been featured in films from franchises such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, and Terminator. His first foray into television was on the robot combat series BattleBots, for which he designed and competed with his robot Deadblow and later returned as a judge. Imahara was also a chief model maker with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) on such movie projects as Galaxy Quest. In 2005, Imahara joined the cast of Mythbusters as a member of the Build Team, appearing in over 200 episodes of the series until his departure in 2014. In 2010, he designed the animatronic "robot skeleton" Geoff Peterson to serve as a sidekick on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He starred in the 2016 Netflix series White Rabbit Project alongside his MythBusters co-stars Kari Byron and Tory Belleci.[2]

Imahara died on July 13, 2020, at the age of 49, after suffering a ruptured intracranial aneurysm.[3]

  1. ^ Bella, Timothy (July 14, 2020). "'MythBusters' host Grant Imahara, an influential popular science personality, dies at 49". Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  2. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 4, 2016). "Netflix Greenlights 'White Rabbit Project' Reality Series From 'Mythbusters' Producers". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 24, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  3. ^ Rahman, Abid; Kilkenny, Katie (July 13, 2020). "Grant Imahara, Host of 'MythBusters' and 'White Rabbit Project,' Dies at 49". The Hollywood Reporter. Additional contribution by Lesley Goldberg. Retrieved July 18, 2020.