Boston Globe December 20, 1981: 1. Professional Football Player, Actor. His father was the legendary actor and NFL athlete Woody Strode. View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Woody Strode. Official Sites, Impeccable musculature and towering height, Often played quiet, dignified men of action, Strode was one of the first four blacks who integrated professional football in 1946. He Wasn't the Star But He Stole the Movie", "Teammates Recall Jackie Robinson's Legacy", "The man who made the stars shine brighter: An interview with Woody Strode", "Woody Strode, Ace Negro Player, Has No Axe to Grind", "Isle families trace ties to '39 Pineapple Bowl", "Woody Strode; Ex-Athlete, Character Actor in Movies", "Like the series, 'Psych' movie a comedic romp", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Woody_Strode&oldid=1004067196, African-American players of Canadian football, African-American male professional wrestlers, African-American male track and field athletes, Players of American football from Los Angeles, United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II, University of California, Los Angeles alumni, Jefferson High School (Los Angeles) alumni, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages which use embedded infobox templates with the title parameter, NFL player missing current team parameter, Infobox NFL biography articles with old NFL.com URL, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2018, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 31 January 2021, at 22:57. [17] He later teamed up with both Bobo Brazil[18] and Bearcat Wright. [23], He did The Italian Connection (1972), for which he was paid $150,000. Woody Strode, byname of Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode, (born July 28, 1914, Los Angeles, California, U.S.—died December 31, 1994, Glendora, California), American character actor who was part of director John Ford ’s "family" of actors, appearing in nearly a dozen of Ford’s films. Ford gave Strode the title role in Sergeant Rutledge (1960) as a member of the Ninth Cavalry, greatly admired by the other black soldiers in the unit, who is falsely accused of the rape and murder of a white woman. Simply one of the most ridiculously perfect human specimens to ever walk the Earth. Draba wins the contest, but instead of killing Spartacus, he attacks the Roman military commander who paid for the fight. '"[11], He also said, "On the Pacific Coast there wasn't anything we couldn't do. He was one of four African American players on the 1939 UCLA Bruins football team, the others being Woody Strode, Robinson, and Ray Bartlett. Woody Strode was a pioneer in many aspects during his lifetime. Hell, we thought we were white."[12]. Strode was in City Beneath the Sea (1953) directed by Budd Boetticher, and The Royal African Rifles. The first to be granted lands was Sir Warinus Strode, Lord of Strode in Dorset, whose lands also pervaded Somerset. When out on the road with the team, Strode had his first experience with racism, something he wasn't aware of growing up in Los Angeles. FAMILY PLACED OBITUARY. Votes: 340 [29], Strode was a dedicated martial artist under the direction of Frank Landers in the art of Seishindo Kenpo. In 1946 he was one of the first blacks to play in the National Football League. In the 1940's, at the beginning of the Golden Age of Professional Wrestling on Television, Woody Strode entered the Mat Game, campaigning as a "Baby Face" (Hero) as opposed to the "Heel" (Villain). [7], Along with Ray Bartlett, there were four Black Americans playing for the Bruins, when only a few dozen at all played on other college football teams. Strode Larson said the studio told the actor that they planned to name a character after him in an upcoming film. They were the first Black-American players to play in the NFL for many years. In 1967 he attempted to produce his own film, The Story of the Tenth Cavalry but it was not made. Luana was born Luukialuana Kealohapauole Kaluhiokalani in Hawaii on 11-3 … When World War II broke out, Strode was playing for the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast Professional Football League. The roles he was offered fell within those limited, though notable range. He became part of Hollywood lore after meeting director John Ford and becoming a part of the Ford "family," appearing in four Ford motion pictures. Yakima Canutt: 2nd Unit/Stunt Coordinator Movies, My favorite supporting actors and actresses. His world-class decathlon capabilities were spearheaded by a 50 ft (15 m) plus shot put (when the world record was 57 ft (17 m)) and a 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) high jump (the world record at time was 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)). [25][26][27] In 1982 at the age of 68, he wed 35-year-old Tina Tompson,[27] and they remained married until his death of lung cancer on December 31, 1994, in Glendora, California, aged 80. He decided to stay in Europe. Distributor Paris-Etoile. He became part of Hollywood lore after meeting director John Ford and becoming a part of the Ford "family," appearing in four Ford motion pictures. [2], He attended Thomas Jefferson High School in South East Los Angeles and college at UCLA, where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. [21], He had a support role in Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958) and a small part in The Buccaneer (1958). If you're a nice guy, you can walk into a room anywhere in the world. This is a fundraiser by his family and friends to pay for a simple but dignified burial for a man whose care and generosity touched thousands of people from California to Hawai'i and North Dakota. " [20], Strode was in Che! Ray Hamel. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed ), memorial page for Woody Strode (25 Jul 1914–31 Dec 1994), Find a Grave Memorial no. An athlete turned actor, Strode was a top-notch decathlete and a football star at UCLA. Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with Kirk Douglas in Spartacus (1960). He is killed and his death sparks a gladiator rebellion. In the early 1990s, Pixar approached Strode's family. [6] They became famous nationally as "the Gold Dust gang". It is well worth listening… The Rams’ manager was reportedly taken aback but responded that Washington was certainly welcome to try out but there were no guarantees. Strode had an excellent support part in The Last Voyage (1960) playing a heroic stoker, though he was only billed fifth. He has appeared in four films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The character Woody from the Toy Story films is named after Strode, who had appeared in a number of classic Western films. The scripts for these were variable but Strode later said "Me, I didn't care. The first encounter for the captain (George Sanders), whose priority so far has been to preserve calm despite the fire on board, with the Hendersons (Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone and Tammy Marihugh as Jill), then Woody Strode, Jack Kruschen and Richard Norris in the engine room, in independent producer Andrew L. Stone’s The Last Voyage, 1960. "[20], During Ford's declining years Strode spent four months sleeping on the director's floor as his caretaker, and he was later present at Ford's death.[22]. He was in a TV adaptation of Mandrake the Magician (1954), a pilot for a series that was not picked up, and had small parts in Son of Sinbad (1955), Soldiers of Fortune (1955), and Buruuba (1956) a Japanese film set in Africa. They always said theirs may have been the first interracial marriage in Las Vegas. In 1980, Strode was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Kalaeloa), in 1946, and a daughter, June. The closing credits dedicate the film to Strode. of Los Angeles. Strode, a WWII veteran, starred in a series of sci-fi and adventure films, often cast as an African warrior, before being cast as the Ethiopian gladiator Draba in … Woody Strode was a respected actor with strong African and Native American ancestry. Woody Strode and his second wife Tina. I found the tenuous link between Woody Strode’s and mine for the most embarrassing of reasons: I didn’t have any memory at all of Woody Strode the Hollywood actor. If the money was right, I'd play Mickey Mouse.”[3], Strode went to Europe to make Scipio the African (1971) and did some more Westerns: The Last Rebel (1971), and The Revengers (1972) (a "regular knockdown, drag‐out western” said Strode[3]). He was also in Key West (1973), Loaded Guns (1975), The Manhunter (1975), We Are No Angels (1975), Winterhawk (1975), Keoma (1976), episodes of The Quest (1976) and How the West Was Won (1977), Oil (1977), Martinelli, Outside Man (1977), Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), Cowboy-San! No evidence the film was completed or distributed. I'd do that if I could. Publicity Listings An athlete turned actor, Strode was a top-notch decathlete and a football star at UCLA. [3], "I got a cultural education—majored in history and education," he said in a 1971 interview. In the film, Strode’s character recites the Declaration of Independence but apologizes for forgetting the phrase “all men are created equal,” a poignant line for the 1962 audience. Goeff also used the same mold for the bodies of Frontierland's Native Americans, too.". [1], Strode was born in Los Angeles. Strode and fellow UCLA alumnus Kenny Washington were two of the first African-Americans to play in major college programs and later the modern National Football League (along with Marion Motley and Bill Willis, who signed with the contemporary rival All-America Football Conference), playing for the Los Angeles Rams in 1946. "It was like I had fought Joe Louis," he recalled. - IMDb Mini Biography By: He became part of Hollywood lore after meeting director John Ford and becoming a part of the Ford "family," appearing in four Ford motion pictures. (1969) and supported Terence Hill and Bud Spencer in Boot Hill (1969) shot in Italy. [8] They played eventual conference and national champion USC to a 0–0 tie with the 1940 Rose Bowl on the line. His 1968 starring role as a thinly-disguised Patrice Lumumba in Seduto alla sua destra (released in the U.S. as Black Jesus) garnered Strode a great deal of press at the time, but the film is largely forgotten now. Woody Strode , US actor, and Kirk Douglas, US actor, in gladiatorial battle in a publicity still issued for the film, 'Spartacus', 1960. "I had five pairs of blue jeans, I was lonely, and I didn't speak the language," he said. He was Cree and Blackfoot on his father's side and Cherokee on his mother's. Luukialuana Kalaeloa Strode: Gender: Female: Aliases: Princess Luukialuana Kalaeloa, Luana, Luukialuana Kalaeloa, Luana Strode, Luukialuana Kealohapauole Kaluhiokalan, Luana Kalaeloa Strode, Princess Luukialuana Kalaeloa Strode: Description: Luukialuana Kalaeloa Strode was an actress and hula dancer. In 1966, he landed a major starring role as a soldier of fortune and expert archer in The Professionals, a major box-office success that established him as a recognizable star. It was the first UCLA–USC rivalry football game with national implications.[9]. In 1963, he was cast opposite Jock Mahoney's Tarzan as both the dying leader of an unnamed Asian country and that leader's unsavory brother, Khan, in Tarzan's Three Challenges. In 1959 he portrayed the conflicted, some would say cowardly, Private Franklin in Pork Chop Hill, which brought him critical acclaim. [7], With her he had a son, Kalai (a.k.a. He later said his salary in Italy went up to $10,000 a week. He had a small role in Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), as a chauffeur of Rochester (Edward Anderson) and could be glimpsed in No Time for Love (1943). "Race is not a factor in the world market," he said in 1981. His parents were from New Orleans; his grandmother was a Black Cherokee and his grandfather was a Black Creek. Red Haircrow, Other Works As we got out of the L.A. area we found these racial tensions. I had the greatest Glory Hallelujah ride across the Pecos River that any black man ever had on the screen. Luana Strode), a distant relative of Liliuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii. Learn about Woody Strode: his birthday, what he did before fame, his family life, fun trivia facts, popularity rankings, and more. He was a decathlete and football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National Football League in the postwar era. Actor Woody Strode Divorcing (Royal) Hawaiian Wife, Luukia Luana - Jet Magazine, February 10, 1955 These scans come from my rather large magazine collection. Woody played for the Los Angeles Rams after their move from Cleveland. His mother was full-blooded Blackfoot, and he played often, Indians in John Ford's films. According to Disneyland Vice President Tony Baxter, "In 1954, Harper Goeff, the designer of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, hired Woody to make a mold of his great muscularity for the African natives in that ride. Strode was a gladiator in Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) and was in Jungle Man-Eaters (1954), a Jungle Jim film. Also, he appeared in several episodes of the 1952–1954 television series Ramar of the Jungle, where he portrayed an African warrior. See full bio » He was Cree and Blackfoot on his father's side and Cherokee on his mother's. - Todd von Hoffman. While making Pork Chop Hill he became a close friend of director John Ford. Every family, every individual, has a back story. Having been broken out of prison by bank robbers, an amnesiac is joined by three other convicts in a visit to his hometown, where he is caught in a feud between his family and the father of one of the robbers. Finally, it became way of life.”[3], He had roles in Bride of the Gorilla (1951), African Treasure (1951) (another Bomba film), an episode of Dangerous Assignment (1952), Caribbean (1952), and Androcles and the Lion (1952), playing the lion, "the toughest job I ever had" he said later.[20]. Bob Rea . Woody Strode was drafted into World War II, and Kalaeloa, a true baby boomer, was born in 1946 when his father came home. So I “canceled” him from a sixties movie I really liked. And I did it myself. "We were unconscious of color. "He treated me like a son," said Strode. Trapped for life. [10], After the war, he worked at serving subpoenas and escorting prisoners for the L.A. County District Attorney's Office[10] before being signed, briefly, to the Los Angeles Rams along with Kenny Washington. "It had dignity. Instead of filling my house with old moldy magazines, I scanned them (in most cases, photographed them) and filled a storage area with moldy magazines. His last film was The Quick and the Dead (1995), which starred Gene Hackman, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Russell Crowe. [28] He is buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California. [19], They wanted him to shave his head. You ride horses.' Bald, Bold & Bad Ass – Remembering Woody Strode (1914 – 1994) Posted in Remember by admin - August 08, 2014 6’4” athlete turned actor Woody Strode, brought his muscular, powerful presence to everything from big budget Hollywood productions to cheap, lesser-known exploitation fare. Strode made his first appearance in Sundown (1941) playing a native policeman. [2] Following the end of his football career in 1949, he returned to wrestling part-time between acting jobs until 1962, wrestling the likes of Gorgeous George. [13] UCLA teammate Jackie Robinson would go on to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball (in fact, Robinson, Strode and Washington had all played in the semi-professional Pacific Coast Professional Football League earlier in the decade). Inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. [32], Colo. - It's been 15 years since Woody Strode's prime time in Hollywood ... ]: [4] Woody Strode has spear at throat of Kirk Douglas as Nina Foch gives the kill sign in a scene from the film 'Spartacus', 1960. (1978), Ravagers (1979), Jaguar Lives! [24], His first wife was Princess Luukialuana Kalaeloa (a.k.a. "Never used it, but I could walk into the White House with it now. "I once played a part written for an Irish prize fighter. He was an Indian in Shalako (1968) and played a gunslinger in the opening sequence of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). “I said, ‘All right, where are the pluckers?’" Then Strode realised, “I was out in the world market with a bald head. That was in 1940. [20], He based himself in Europe from 1968 to 1971.[7]. In 1948 he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers of the AAFC, but was released before the season started,[14] whereupon he joined the Calgary Stampeders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union in Canada, where he was a member of Calgary's 1948 Grey Cup Championship team[15] before retiring due to injury in 1949. "I had a certain amount of crudeness that went back a hundred years, and that's what he liked. John Ford put classic words in my mouth... You never seen a Negro come off a mountain like John Wayne before. He was reluctant until they offered him $500 a week. Woody Strode’s family has recreated an approximation of what Harding said. Mar 24, 2016 - Luana Strode, Hawaiian wife of Woody Strode (1/2 black and 1/2 Native American in "Once Upon A Time In The West". Ford used him again in Two Rode Together (1962) but it was only a small part, as an Indian. Last Voyage, The (1960) - Get Me A Crowbar! |  He was billed as the Pacific Coast Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and the Pacific Coast Negro Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in 1962. Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with Kirk Douglas in Spartacus (1960)." Strode's later appearances included Cuba Crossing (1980),The Dukes of Hazzard (1980), Scream (1981), Fantasy Island (1981), Vigilante (1982), Invaders of the Lost Gold (1982), Angkor: Cambodia Express (1983), The Black Stallion Returns (1983), The Violent Breed (1984), Jungle Warriors (1984), The Cotton Club (1984), The Final Executioner (1984), Lust in the Dust (1985), On Fire (1987), and A Gathering of Old Men (1987). He could be seen in The Gambler from Natchez (1954), Jungle Gents (1954) a Bowery Boys movie set in Africa, and The Silver Chalice (1954). They were unable to find anyone to play the Ethiopian king so Strode was given that role too. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Producers Nyima Films and Western Intl. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best … Played college football and broke color barrier at the same time as Kenny Washington. He was also a professional wrestler, wrestling the likes of Gorgeous George. I carried the whole black race across that river."[3]. Strode played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League from 1948-1949 before moving back to the United States and beginning his film career. The May 6, 1970, issue of Variety, in the Italian Films Shooting column, lists the movie Violence presently filming in Morocco, director Damiano Damiani, actors Susan Strasberg, Farley Granger, Woody Strode, Adolfo Celi, Terence Hill. He broke two ribs and a shoulder. "You'd have thought I was marrying Lana Turner, the way the whites in Hollywood acted," he later said. (1979), and an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979). If someone said, 'there's a Negro over there,' I was just as apt as anyone to turn around and say 'Where? Strode was very close to the director. Woody Strode was African American and Native American, Luana Kalaeloa was pure Hawaiian. Woody Strode was a respected actor with strong African and Native American ancestry. He was drafted at age 27 and soon joined the United States Army Air Corps and spent the war unloading bombs in Guam and the Marianas, as well as playing on the Army football team at March Field in Riverside, California. Woody Strode has spear at throat of Kirk Douglas as Nina Foch gives the kill sign in a scene from the film 'Spartacus', 1960. Director: Enzo Barboni | Stars: Leonard Mann, Woody Strode, Peter Martell, George Eastman. Washington, Strode, and Robinson made up … |  Cecil B. DeMille cast him in The Ten Commandments (1956) as a slave at $500 a week for five weeks. He was in The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961) and guest starred on Rawhide, playing an Australian aboriginal in the latter. [16], In 1952, Strode wrestled almost every week from August 12, 1952, to December 10, 1952, in different cities in California. Kalai (Woody) Strode passed away suddenly over Thanksgiving while helping care for his mother-in-law. He served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with Kirk Douglas in Spartacus (1960) The others were Bill Willis and Marion Motley of the Cleveland Browns (All America Football Conference [AAFC]), and fellow NFL Los Angeles Ram. Woody Strode Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Woodrow Wilson Woolwine "Woody" Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was a decathlete and football star who went on to become a popular and pioneering African-American film actor. Pompey/Strode physically carries and thereby saves a drunken, suicidal John Wayne from his burning home. Strode had difficulty maintaining the momentum of these roles. Woodrow Wilson Woolwine "Woody" Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an African American decathlete and football star who went on to become a film actor. ", - IMDb Mini Biography By: Woody Strode was a pioneering athlete and professional football player long before he became an actor. Kalai was born in Los Angeles to a show business family. No black men had played in the NFL from 1933 to 1946. They were married until her death in 1980 due to Parkinson's disease. Early Origins of the Strode family The surname Strode was first found in Somerset where they were descended from the Alain, the Duke of Bretagne who arrived in England with William the Conqueror in 1066 A.D. Strode posed for one of two paintings commissioned by, Reportedly, his favorite film from his career was, Strode played college football for the UCLA Bruins, the most integrated collegiate team in the nation in 1939, which included future NFL running back Kenny Washington and future Baseball Hall of Fame inductee. [3], In 1941, Strode had dabbled for several months in professional wrestling. After football, he went on to become a film actor, where he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960. He played for the UCLA Bruins football team during the 1930's when there were very few black collegiate athletes, part of a backfield that included Kenny Washington, the first African-American signed by the NFL and Jackie Robinson, the first African-American signed by Major League Baseball. He stayed in Europe to make another Western The Unholy Four (1970) and went back to Hollywood to do a TV movie Breakout (1970) and two Westerns The Deserter (also known as "The Devil's Backbone") (1971), and The Gatling Gun (1971). Washington rushed for 9,975 yards in his college career, a school record for 56 years. Woodrow Wilson Woolwine "Woody" Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an African American decathlete and football star who went on to become a film actor. An athlete turned actor, Strode was a top-notch decathlete and a football star at UCLA. While some reviewers and historians claim he could have been a more well-known and cast minority actor if not for his size and physically strong appearance, more along the lines of Sidney Poitier, a near contemporary, Hollywood of the past and present still has few positive roles outside of the stereotypical for ethnic males. "[7], "That was a classic," he later said. Born in Los Angeles, he was an athlete and a football star in his youth. [3] He called it "the first dramatic thing that I had done."[7]. "The big studios wanted an actor like Sidney [Poitier] or [Harry] Belafonte," recalled Strode. He guest starred on The Lieutenant, The Farmer's Daughter and Daniel Boone and had roles in the features Genghis Khan (1965) and 7 Women (1966), the latter the last film he made for Ford. He was both successful and a popular draw; but gave up wrestling due to his popularity in motion pictures. Strode was next cast in Spartacus (1960) as the Ethiopian gladiator Draba, in which he has to fight Spartacus (played by Kirk Douglas) to the death. "But the producers answered, 'Not necessary. Miss them alot. [30], Sheriff Woody of the Toy Story series of animated films is named after Strode,[31] as was the recurring character of the Santa Barbara Coroner in the television series Psych. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960. Language: : English, French Package Dimensions : 7.32 x 4.19 x 1.12 inches; 6.13 Ounces Director : Robert Dalva Run time : 1 hour and 43 minutes Release date : June 25, 1996 Date First Available : June 27, 2006 Actors : Kelly Reno, Vincent Spano, Allen Garfield, Woody Strode, Ferdy Mayne Studio : Fox Home Entertainme Producers : Christine Berardo, Doug Claybourne, Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Roos In the late 1960s, he appeared in several episodes of the Ron Ely Tarzan television series. M, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, Pacific Coast Professional Football League, "Woody Strode (1914-1994) - Find A Grave Memorial", "Woody Strode? He had a bigger role in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) for Ford, playing Pompey, John Wayne's hired hand. Explore Woody Strode's biography, personal life, family and cause of death. [citation needed], Strode's acting career was re-activated when producer Walter Mirisch spotted him wrestling and cast him as an African warrior in The Lion Hunters (1951), one of the Bomba the Jungle Boy series.