Akihiko Hirata

was a Japanese actor. His real name is . He is known for his role Dr. Iwamoto in Ultraman.
==Career==
He was well-known for his role as Dr. Daisuke Serizawa in Godzilla, which eventually led to his frequent appearances in works made by Toho and Tsuburaya Productions. It was also from this point on that Hirata was typecasted to portray scientist characters in several shows, with Dr. Iwamoto in Ultraman being one example of this.
==Personal Life==
He married Yoshiko Kuga in 1961.
==Death==
Akihiko Hirata died in July 25, 1984 at the age 56 after a long time battle with lung cancer. The actor's association with the kaiju genre continued right until his death, as he helped announce the production of The Return of Godzilla at a Tokyo press conference, but unfortunately Akihiko was too ill to appear in the film, and the part would eventually go to Yosuke Natsuki, who had appeared alongside Akihiko in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster in 1964.
==Roles==
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1966	Ultra Q 	Chief Hanazawa 	Episode 16 "Garamon Strikes Back"
1966	Ultraman 	Dr. Iwamoto 	
1966	Ultraman 	Dr. Iwamoto/Alien Zetton disguise	Episode 39 "Farewell, Ultraman"
1967	Ultraseven 	Staff Officer Yanagawa 	Episode 1 "The Invisible Challenger"
1968	Mighty Jack 	Dr. Kumokawa/Tatsuo Sagawa 	Episode 13 "The Mysterious Airship Operation"
1969	Operation: Mystery	Seiichiro Kamiya 	Episode 20 "Murderous Circuit"
1973	Fireman 	Dr. Tadokoro 	Episode 9 "A Challenge from the Deep Sea"
==Trivia==
*As Hirata was long dead before the production of Revive! Ultraman, Iwamoto is the only character whose performance by Hirata is done entirely with stock footage, while the rest of the cast had their original actors dubbing over new lines.
==External Links==
*Akihiko Hirata at Wikizilla
Category:Real Life People
Category:Actors
Category:Male Actors
Category:Deceased Actors
Category:Actors who appeared in Godzilla