KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — As a child, I remember sitting down by the TV, and being forced to watch something “educational” — as opposed to the hours of cartoons that I generally preferred to spend my afternoons with. But there was a saving grace: whenever MythBusters was being aired on the Discovery Channel, it never felt like the other informational programmes that I was forced to watch.
Instead, it was 45 minutes of a fun, enlightening experience that blew my mind as a curious 10-year-old. The dynamic between the hosts — Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman at first, and eventually new cast members—always made for great television. Eventually, the original MythBusters show ended in 2015 after 14 seasons, although a reboot with a new cast is currently ongoing.
In some sad news today, Grant Imahara, who joined the cast during the third season of the original series, has passed away at just 49 years of age. Imahara, who also went on to host the “White Rabbit Project” on Netflix (along with fellow MythBusters cast members Kari Byron and Tory Belleci), reportedly passed from a brain aneurysm. In response to the news, Discovery issued a statement with their condolences to The Hollywood Reporter:
“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.”
Meanwhile, Imahara’s former colleague on MythBusters Adam Savage expressed his admiration for his friend’s “generous, easygoing, and gentle” nature in an emotional Tweet:
I’m at a loss. No words. I’ve been part of two big families with Grant Imahara over the last 22 years. Grant was a truly brilliant engineer, artist and performer, but also just such a generous, easygoing, and gentle PERSON. Working with Grant was so much fun. I’ll miss my friend.
— Adam Savage (@donttrythis) July 14, 2020
Kari Byron, who last worked with Imahara for the White Rabbit Project, posted a picture of her with Tory Belleci and Imahara with a wistful caption:
Somedays I wish I had a time machine. @ToryBelleci @grantimahara pic.twitter.com/o9FRE2l16W
— Kari Byron (@KariByron) July 13, 2020
Imahara wasn’t just a TV host or personality. An electrical engineer by trade, he began his Hollywood career by working at a THX labs, an affiliate of Lucasfilm. Eventually rising to Chief Model Maker specialising in animatronics, Imahara has an impressive track record with work on Star Wars, The Matrix, and Terminator 3. Additionally, robot-fighting was a sport that was close to Imahara’s heart, having been on BattleBots as a judge. — SoyaCincau
I’ve retired from robot combat. My first fighting robot Deadblow was almost 20 years ago in 1999. They made it into a toy and I wrote a book on the subject. #BattleBots pic.twitter.com/4LbxlKlI0v
— Grant Imahara (@grantimahara) April 8, 2018
