/Grant Imahara, former Mythbusters host, dead at 49

Grant Imahara, former Mythbusters host, dead at 49

Grant Imahara, a former host of the Discovery Channel show “Mythbusters” has died, according to a statement from Discovery. He was 49.

“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,” the statement said. It added that the host died “suddenly,” but no other details about Imahara’s death were provided.

“Grant Imahara was an electrical engineer who dedicated his life to using his skills to make people smile,” the statement said. Besides hosting “Mythbusters” for 10 years, he was “one of the few officially trained operators for famed droid R2-D2 within the Star Wars universe” and engineered the Energizer Bunny’s memorable beat.

He was also a Battlebots competitor and winner in the 1990s and early 2000s, and last year judged the robotic combat competition.

Imahara co-hosted more than 200 episodes of “Mythbusters,” beginning with season 3 in 2005 and through 2014. He joined the show after an invitation from host Jamie Hyneman and was a part of the Build Team with Kari Byron and Tory Belleci. He replaced welder Scottie Chapman. Imahara was best known for making the robots and other electronics needed for the experiments on the hit show.

Fellow “Mythbusters” host Adam Savage paid tribute to Imahara on Twitter.

Byron shared several photos of Imahara on Twitter, writing in separate tweets, “Somedays I wish I had a time machine,” and “We had so many adventures. You taught me so much.”

Imahara went on to host “White Rabbit Project” on Netflix with Byron and Belleci, in which the team investigated topics like jail breaks, superpower technology, heists, and World War II weapons through scientific experiments and builds. The show ran for one season in 2016 and was not renewed.

Before making his way onto TV, Imahara worked for Lucasfilm’s THX division and later joined Industrial Light and Magic. He worked there for nine years and contributed to movies like the three “Star Wars” prequels, “Jurassic Park,” “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” “Galaxy Quest” and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.”

He also appeared on “Drunk History,” “Battlebots,” “Sharknado 3,” the web series “Star Trek Continues” and the Marvel animated series “Avengers Assemble.”

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