Grant Imahara, who co-hosted Mythbusters on Discovery, has died at 49. He was on Mythbusters from 2005 to 2014, initially as part of the “build team,” according to the New York Times, before progressing to co-host.
A Discovery spokesperson said the cause of death is believed to be a brain aneurysm.
“We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant,” Discovery said in a statement. “He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
An electrical engineer, Imahara operated robots in the Star Wars prequels, including R2-D2, and other films, reported the New York Times.
Imahara spent time as an animatronics engineer for Industrial Light & Magic. He also competed in BattleBots, building a champion robot named Deadblow.
Imahara later co-hosted the Netflix series White Rabbit Project, which looked at great inventions. His co-hosts were Mythbusters alum Kari Byron and Tory Belleci. It ran in 2016.
Belleci shared on Twitter, “I just cannot believe it. I don’t even know what to say. My heart is broken. Goodbye buddy.”
Longtime Mythbusters host Adam Savage tweeted, "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."
