Grant Imahara, a big part of the "MythBusters" team, has died ... from a brain aneurysm.
The beloved host of Discovery's hit series, and brilliant electrical engineer, died suddenly Monday from the aneurysm ... rattling his family, close friends and longtime coworkers.
A Discovery rep tells TMZ, "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."
As fans of the show know, Grant was a roboticist by training and joined the show in its third season. He left in 2014, but reunited with cohosts Tory Belleci and Kari Byron for the short-lived Netflix series, "White Rabbit Project."
Before becoming a TV star himself, Grant worked behind the scenes for 9 years at LucasFilm. He cranked out inventions for the THX and Industrial Light and Magic divisions that showed up in some of the biggest sci-fi films of all time.
His animatronic creations were featured in the 'Star Wars' prequels. Grant didn't just work for George Lucas, though ... he was a legit fan of the films and the characters. He was one of very few people in the world qualified to operate R2-D2, btw. How cool is that??!!
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
Adam Savage, a former "MythBusters" host, who also worked with Grant at ILM ... said he was a "brilliant engineer, artist and performer."
Imahara also worked on 2 of the 'Matrix' movies, "Galaxy Quest," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" and 'Terminator 3.'
Grant was 49.
RIP