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MythBusters Fans Mourn The Sudden Death Of Grant Imahara

MythBusters star Grant Imahara unexpectedly died on Monday, with sources indicating that he suffered a sudden brain aneurysm while at home. The news understandably shocked and dismayed fans of his work, which goes way beyond what we saw on Mythbusters. In addition to his work there (and on related show White Rabbit Project), he was a trained engineer and roboticist, working for ILM on animatronics for major movies, with his projects featuring in The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (where he was responsible for R2-D2).

grant imahara mythbusters

MythBusters star Grant Imahara unexpectedly died on Monday, with sources indicating that he suffered a sudden brain aneurysm while at home. The news understandably shocked and dismayed fans of his work, which goes way beyond what we saw on Mythbusters. In addition to his work there (and on related show White Rabbit Project), he was a trained engineer and roboticist, working for ILM on animatronics for major movies, with his projects featuring in The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (where he was responsible for R2-D2).

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But despite being a key part of some of the biggest movies of all time, it was his work on the Discovery Channel hit MythBusters for which he came to be known to the public at large. Imahara debuted in the third season and remained a part of the crew until 2014, quickly becoming a charismatic and likeable mainstay of the show.

A spokesman for the channel released the following statement after hearing the sad news:

“We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant. He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers. We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant. He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”

And, of course, there’s been an outpouring of grief on social media from friends, co-workers and fans alike, as you can see below:

https://twitter.com/kenzgrondahl/status/1282881847635128321?s=20

grant imahara mythbusters

https://twitter.com/SirGuyGisbourne/status/1283040782371508227?s=20

https://twitter.com/csharp7/status/1282882702539059200?s=20

More recently, Imahara had been working on a Walt Disney Imagineering project to create autonomous robot stunt doubles, as well as acting as a mechanical designer for California based effects company Spectral Motion. Pictures posted to his Twitter account revealed that even during the Coronavirus lockdowns, he’d continued to work, showing off a tangled collection of electronics equipment I won’t even pretend to understand.

RIP Grant Imahara 1970-2020.