Godzilla’s daddy: Godzilla (1954) director Ishiro Honda, born May 7, 1911.

From JapaneseGiants.com —

Honda teamed up with SFX director Eiji Tsuburaya and directed numerous monster films starting with Godzilla (’54), The Mysterians (’57), Mothra (’61), Invasion of Astro-Monster (’65), all of which made him the leading figure in the monster film boom, and which also gained him recognition overseas.