Acting
Richard Loo
Richard Loo (October 1, 1903 – November 20, 1983) was an American film actor who was one of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1982. Chinese by ancestry and Hawaiian by birth, Loo spent his youth in Hawaii, then moved to California as a teenager. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and began a career in business. The stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent economic depression forced Loo to start over. He became involved with amateur, then professional, theater companies and in 1931 made his first film. Like most Asian actors in non-Asian countries, he played primarily small, stereotypical roles, though he rose quickly to familiarity, if not fame, in a number of films. His stern features led him to be a favorite movie villain, and the outbreak of World War II gave him greater prominence in roles as vicious Japanese soldiers in such successful pictures as The Purple Heart (1944) and God Is My Co-Pilot (1945). Loo was most often typecast as the Japanese enemy pilot, spy or interrogator during World War II. In the film The Purple Heart he plays a Japanese Imperial Army general who commits suicide because he cannot break down the American prisoners. According to his daughter, Beverly Jane Loo, he didn't mind being typecast as a villain in these movies as he felt very patriotic about playing those parts. In 1944 he appeared as a Chinese army lieutenant opposite Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom. He had a rare heroic role as a war-weary Japanese-American soldier in Samuel Fuller's Korean War classic The Steel Helmet (1951), but he spent much of the latter part of his career performing stock roles in films and minor television roles. In 1974 he appeared as the Thai billionaire tycoon Hai Fat in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, opposite Roger Moore and Christopher Lee. Loo was also a teacher of Shaolin monks in three episodes of the 1972–1975 hit TV series Kung Fu and made a further three appearances as a different character. His last acting appearance was in The Incredible Hulk TV series in 1981, but he continued to act in Toyota commercials into 1982. Loo died of a cerebral hemorrhage on November 20, 1983, age 80. [biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]
Filmography
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
Film · 2002
Kung Fu: The Movie
Film · 1986
The Incredible Hulk
Series · 1977
The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
Series · 1977
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur
Film · 1976
The Man with the Golden Gun
Film · 1974
Police Story
Series · 1973
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon
Film · 1972
Kung Fu
Series · 1972
Kung Fu
Series · 1972
Delphi Bureau
Series · 1972
Chandler
Film · 1971
One More Train to Rob
Film · 1971
McCloud
Series · 1970
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
Film · 1969
Hawaii Five-O
Series · 1969
The Dick Cavett Show
Series · 1968
The Sand Pebbles
Film · 1966
Family Affair
Series · 1966
I Dream of Jeannie
Series · 1965
The Wild Wild West
Series · 1965
Honey West
Series · 1965
Bewitched
Series · 1964
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Series · 1964
Burke's Law
Series · 1963
The Dakotas
Series · 1963
The Outer Limits
Series · 1963
Confessions of an Opium Eater
Film · 1962
A Girl Named Tamiko
Film · 1962
Diamond Head
Film · 1962
The Beachcomber
Series · 1962
My Three Sons
Series · 1960
Hong Kong
Series · 1960
The Scavengers
Film · 1959
Bonanza
Series · 1959
The Quiet American
Film · 1958
Hong Kong Affair
Film · 1958
Battle Hymn
Film · 1957
Perry Mason
Series · 1957
Maverick
Series · 1957
Around the World in 80 Days
Film · 1956
The Conqueror
Film · 1956
The Man Called X
Series · 1956
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Film · 1955
House of Bamboo
Film · 1955
Soldier of Fortune
Film · 1955
Navy Log
Series · 1955
Crossroads
Series · 1955
Hell and High Water
Film · 1954
The Bamboo Prison
Film · 1954
The Shanghai Story
Film · 1954
Living It Up
Film · 1954
December Bride
Series · 1954
Target Hong Kong
Film · 1953
China Venture
Film · 1953
Destination Gobi
Film · 1953
5 Fingers
Film · 1952
Cavalcade of America
Series · 1952
Cavalcade of America
Series · 1952
Four Star Playhouse
Series · 1952
The Steel Helmet
Film · 1951
I Was an American Spy
Film · 1951
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Series · 1950
The Clay Pigeon
Film · 1949
Malaya
Film · 1949
State Department: File 649
Film · 1949
Women in the Night
Film · 1948
To the Ends of the Earth
Film · 1948
Rogues' Regiment
Film · 1948
The Cobra Strikes
Film · 1948
Half Past Midnight
Film · 1948
Studio One
Series · 1948
Seven Were Saved
Film · 1947
Web of Danger
Film · 1947
Beyond Our Own
Film · 1947
Tokyo Rose
Film · 1946
Betrayal from the East
Film · 1945
Back to Bataan
Film · 1945
First Yank into Tokyo
Film · 1945
Prison Ship
Film · 1945
China Sky
Film · 1945
China's Little Devils
Film · 1945
God Is My Co-Pilot
Film · 1945
The Purple Heart
Film · 1944
The Keys of the Kingdom
Film · 1944
The Story of Dr. Wassell
Film · 1944
The Falcon Strikes Back
Film · 1943
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Film · 1943
Flight for Freedom
Film · 1943
China
Film · 1943
Behind the Rising Sun
Film · 1943
Destroyer
Film · 1943
So Proudly We Hail
Film · 1943
Yanks Ahoy
Film · 1943
Star Spangled Rhythm
Film · 1942
Across the Pacific
Film · 1942
Wake Island
Film · 1942
Road to Morocco
Film · 1942
Secret of the Wastelands
Film · 1941
The Fatal Hour
Film · 1940
Doomed to Die
Film · 1940
North of Shanghai
Film · 1939
Daughter of the Tong
Film · 1939
Panama Patrol
Film · 1939
Mr. Wong in Chinatown
Film · 1939
Miracles for Sale
Film · 1939
Lady of the Tropics
Film · 1939
Barricade
Film · 1939
Island of Lost Men
Film · 1939
Shadows Over Shanghai
Film · 1938
Blondes at Work
Film · 1938
Too Hot to Handle
Film · 1938
The Good Earth
Film · 1937
Lost Horizon
Film · 1937
West of Shanghai
Film · 1937
The Soldier and the Lady
Film · 1937
That Certain Woman
Film · 1937
Stowaway
Film · 1936
Roaming Lady
Film · 1936
Mad Holiday
Film · 1936
Shadow of Chinatown
Film · 1936
China Seas
Film · 1935
Stranded
Film · 1935
Now and Forever
Film · 1934
Student Tour
Film · 1934
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
Film · 1933
The Secrets of Wu Sin
Film · 1932
War Correspondent
Film · 1932