MythBusters star Grant Imahara has died at the age of 49.
On Monday evening, The
Hollywood Reporter broke the news of Grant’s death, reporting that he had “died suddenly” following a brain aneurysm.
This was then confirmed by Discovery, the production company behind MythBusters.
“We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant,” a spokesperson for the company said. “He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”Grant originally trained as an electrical engineer, working with LucasFilm on the
Star Wars prequel trilogy, where he helped update the R2-D2 robots for a new audience.
He also collaborated on films like AI:
Artificial intelligence, Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines and the two Matrix sequels.
From there, he then made the move in front of the camera, joining MythBusters for its third series in 2005, where he put his robot-building skills to use.
He stayed with the show for nine years, eventually stepping down in 2014, after which he joined the
Netflix original series White Rabbit Project, where he once again teamed up with his former MythBusters colleagues Kari Byron and Tory Belleci. His former co-presenter Kari Byron has paid her respects to Grant on
Social Media, tweeting several photos alongside the message: “Sometimes I wish I had a time machine... We had so many adventures. You taught me so much.”Somedays I wish I had a time machine. @ToryBelleci @grantimahara pic.twitter.com/o9FRE2l16W— Kari Byron (@KariByron) July 13, 2020pic.twitter.com/HVy812BPt6— Kari Byron (@KariByron) July 14, 2020pic.twitter.com/u7dxJbGdlX— Kari Byron (@KariByron) July 14, 2020We had so many adventures. You taught me so much. pic.twitter.com/okxnTtpLjf— Kari Byron (@KariByron) July 14, 2020Tory Belleci also tweeted: “I just cannot believe it. I don’t even know what to say. My heart is broken. Goodbye buddy.”I just cannot believe it. I don’t even know what to say. My heart is broken. Goodbye buddy @grantimaharapic.twitter.com/HkLYaBK1dw— Tory Belleci (@ToryBelleci) July 14, 2020Grant’s other work included judging BattleBots – the US version of
Robot Wars – on which he’d previously competed.
In 2018,
Disney imagineers announced a new type of animatronic, dubbed Stuntronics, was being introduced to their theme parks, which Grant had collaborated with them on.