Biography

Electronics wizard Grant Imahara has been behind the scenes of many top Hollywood films for years. An expert at animatronics, his skills were used extensively at George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic, where his talent was demonstrated on various features including the Matrix sequels, the three Star Wars prequels, Spielberg's A.I. Intelligence artificielle (2001) and Le Monde perdu : Jurassic Park (1997), and the hit Terminator 3 : Le Soulèvement des machines (2003). Grant was one of only a few people to have the privilege to operate R2-D2. He continued to use his skills in front of the camera on the Discovery Channel show MythBusters (2003) team. Fans have embraced his talent, unique skills, and sense of humor.

- IMDb mini biography by: Adam Savage

A popular co-host of TV's MythBusters (2003), he was the go-to guy for building and engineering all manner of electronic devices, from rocket sleds to robots. The awesomely talented Grant Imahara was a self-confessed science fiction aficionado from an early age, his future career path somehow inspired by the androids of the Star Wars franchise. He had a natural affinity for building machines and an inherent curiosity as to how their internal mechanics worked. In a 2008 interview he said that he would have rather aspired to be Q than James Bond because that "was the guy who made all the gadgets."

A USC graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering, Imahara worked for three years at the Lucasfilm division THX (Tomlinson Holman eXperiment), the company noted for supplying the surround sound system used in most motion picture theatres. He spent another nine years as a modelmaker, animatronics engineer and droid operator at the visual effects subsidiary Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), set up by George Lucas in 1975. During this tenure, his work included updating the R2-D2 electronics for Star Wars, épisode II : L'Attaque des clones (2002) (as well as being one of only three 'official' operators of the iconic droid) and building/engineering models and miniatures for big screen productions like Le Monde perdu : Jurassic Park (1997), Galaxy Quest (1999), Terminator 3 : Le Soulèvement des machines (2003) and the two Matrix sequels. Whilst at ILM, he worked with future Mythbusters Adam Savage and Tory Belleci.

Jamie Hyneman invited Imahara to join the Mythbusters at the start of season 3 in 2005. As the Build Team's electronics wizard, he went on to bring his expertise and seemingly boundless energy to bear on more than 200 episodes over a ten year period and, eventually, to a short-lived spin-off, White Rabbit Project (2016). It has to be said that the enduring popularity of MythBusters was in no small part due to the jokey lightheartedness and esprit de corps among the team members. As Imahara himself explained: "That kind of camaraderie that you see on the show, the kind of playful joking, that's something that comes with years of experience of working together. I think that was one of the reasons I got the job on Mythbusters because I already knew Tory and I knew Adam and I knew Jamie from many years of working together and that kind of chemistry is very difficult to just jump into, it develops over time." Imahara also dabbled in acting, which included a recurring role as Hikaru Sulu in the fan created web series Star Trek Continues (2013).

Grant Imahara's untimely passing from a brain aneurysm at the age of 49 came as a huge shock to millions of fans worldwide.

- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis