The world of geekdom, sci-fi fandom, and the fan film community all mourn the passing of the amazingly warm, generous, and upbeat GRANT IMAHARA. Those aren’t just my adjectives. In fact, I never met Grant in person other than seeing him at a few conventions along with cast members of STAR TREK CONTINUES. But I never heard anything negative about him…just the opposite, in fact! Certain people just have an aura of kindness and positivity that surround them, and Grant was one of those people.
As I looked at the tributes to him on social media, this one stood out for me from his close friend MATTHEW MERCER:
There are rare, RARE people in this world that are made of pure love, light, and kindness. @grantimahara is one of the brightest. Not an ounce of malice within that soul. Intelligence and heart that eclipse so much shadow. His years of friendship are precious to so many.
Grant died suddenly on Monday following a brain aneurysm. He is best known throughout the world as one of the co-hosts of the popular Mythbusters series on the Discovery Channel, which he joined during its third season in 2005 and remained a part of through 2014. Grant was the robot builder, something he loved doing from the days when he worked at Lucasfilm’s THX division and later for ILM. In fact, he also built the Deadblow robot that competed on Battlebots and was ranked #2 in the middle-weight division, and Grant even led a team that designed the modern Energizer Bunny! (No kidding! Check it out if you don’t believe me.)
Grant later hosted the Netflix series White Rabbit Project along with his Mythbusters build team buddies KARI BYRON and TORY BELLECIi. And he even appeared in an episode of Eureka and the third Sharknado movie.
The fan film community knew Grant best for playing Hikaru Sulu for more than half a decade in all eleven episodes of Star Trek Continues…as well as two of the three vignettes that were filmed in 2012 before the fan series debuted its full-length episodes. This video from LARRY NEMECEK of Trekland shows how excited Grant was to be a part of the production…
Grant also played the role of Lt. Masaru, Admiral Chekov’s aid, in STAR TREK: RENEGADES back in 2015. You can see from this interview with MATT MUNSON on the Renegades set how much of an excited fanboy Grant was being directed by TIM “Tuvok” RUSS and getting to be a part of the Star Trek universe…
We’ve just lost a very special one. All too often in our fan community, tempers flair, resentments build, and tensions can explode into full-on virtual warfare. But then there are fans like Grant Imahara who just smile and enjoy their experiences and reach out to others with warmth, kindness, and compassion.
Be like Grant, my friends.
I was and am a hugh Myth busters fan. When I read that I damn near fell off my chair. 49 years old, that puts him 3 years older then me. It blows my mind that someone so young died in that fashion. We as sci-fi fans get so caught up in what we love, the technology that sci-fi offers a glimpse to and the possible future that we forget how fleeting and fragile life is.
I would have loved to have met him.
R.I.P. Grant. Your legacy shall live on!
Thanks for the great and informative tribute to Grant Imahara.
I had not known of some of his work and having it all together in one place as you did helped me to honor his memory.