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Richard Loo

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]

Personal information

Birthday

1903-10-01

Birth Place

Maui, Hawaii, USA

Movies and TV shows :

5 Fingers

5 Fingers

1952

7.6

Movie
A Girl Named Tamiko

A Girl Named Tamiko

1962

5.0

Movie
Across the Pacific

Across the Pacific

1942

6.5

Movie
Around the World in Eighty Days

Around the World in Eighty Days

1956

6.6

Movie
Back to Bataan

Back to Bataan

1945

6.1

Movie
Barricade

Barricade

1939

5.0

Movie
Battle Hymn

Battle Hymn

1957

6.5

Movie
Behind the Rising Sun

Behind the Rising Sun

1943

5.7

Movie
Betrayal from the East

Betrayal from the East

1945

5.8

Movie
poster

Bewitched

1964

7.9

TV
Beyond Our Own

Beyond Our Own

1947

0.0

Movie
Blondes at Work

Blondes at Work

1938

6.1

Movie
poster

Burke's Law

1963

6.0

TV
poster

Cavalcade of America

1952

3.5

TV
Chandler

Chandler

1971

4.5

Movie
China

China

1943

6.8

Movie
China Seas

China Seas

1935

6.3

Movie
China Sky

China Sky

1945

5.5

Movie
China Venture

China Venture

1953

7.5

Movie
China's Little Devils

China's Little Devils

1945

4.0

Movie
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur

Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur

1976

0.0

Movie
Confessions of an Opium Eater

Confessions of an Opium Eater

1962

5.6

Movie
Daughter of the Tong

Daughter of the Tong

1939

5.0

Movie
poster

December Bride

1954

5.5

TV
Destination Gobi

Destination Gobi

1953

5.7

Movie
Destroyer

Destroyer

1943

6.6

Movie
Diamond Head

Diamond Head

1962

5.4

Movie
Doomed to Die

Doomed to Die

1940

5.8

Movie
poster

Family Affair

1966

6.6

TV
First Yank into Tokyo

First Yank into Tokyo

1945

5.4

Movie
Flight for Freedom

Flight for Freedom

1943

5.2

Movie
poster

Four Star Playhouse

1952

6.1

TV
God Is My Co-Pilot

God Is My Co-Pilot

1945

7.0

Movie
Half Past Midnight

Half Past Midnight

1948

6.0

Movie
poster

Hawaii Five-O

1968

7.1

TV
Hell and High Water

Hell and High Water

1954

6.1

Movie
poster

Honey West

1965

7.0

TV
poster

Hong Kong

1960

0.0

TV
Hong Kong Affair

Hong Kong Affair

1958

0.0

Movie
House of Bamboo

House of Bamboo

1955

6.1

Movie
poster

I Dream of Jeannie

1965

7.8

TV
I Was an American Spy

I Was an American Spy

1951

6.2

Movie
Island of Lost Men

Island of Lost Men

1939

5.7

Movie
poster

Kung Fu

1972

7.6

TV
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon

Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon

1972

7.0

Movie
Lady of the Tropics

Lady of the Tropics

1939

6.1

Movie
Living It Up

Living It Up

1954

6.4

Movie
Lost Horizon

Lost Horizon

1937

7.0

Movie
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

1955

5.9

Movie
Mad Holiday

Mad Holiday

1936

6.0

Movie
Malaya

Malaya

1949

6.5

Movie
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities

Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities

1969

0.0

Movie
poster

Maverick

1957

6.8

TV
poster

McCloud

1970

7.1

TV
Miracles for Sale

Miracles for Sale

1939

6.4

Movie
Mr. Wong in Chinatown

Mr. Wong in Chinatown

1939

5.4

Movie
poster

My Three Sons

1960

6.5

TV
poster

Navy Log

1955

4.5

TV
North of Shanghai

North of Shanghai

1939

0.0

Movie
Now and Forever

Now and Forever

1934

6.7

Movie
One More Train to Rob

One More Train to Rob

1971

5.4

Movie
Panama Patrol

Panama Patrol

1939

5.0

Movie
poster

Perry Mason

1957

7.7

TV
poster

Police Story

1973

7.1

TV
Prison Ship

Prison Ship

1945

6.0

Movie
Road to Morocco

Road to Morocco

1942

6.9

Movie
Roaming Lady

Roaming Lady

1936

5.0

Movie
Rogues' Regiment

Rogues' Regiment

1948

6.5

Movie
Secret of the Wastelands

Secret of the Wastelands

1941

0.0

Movie
Seven Were Saved

Seven Were Saved

1947

6.1

Movie
Shadows Over Shanghai

Shadows Over Shanghai

1938

5.7

Movie
So Proudly We Hail

So Proudly We Hail

1943

5.5

Movie
Soldier of Fortune

Soldier of Fortune

1955

5.9

Movie
Star Spangled Rhythm

Star Spangled Rhythm

1942

5.9

Movie
State Department: File 649

State Department: File 649

1949

5.0

Movie
Stowaway

Stowaway

1936

6.7

Movie
Stranded

Stranded

1935

5.8

Movie
Student Tour

Student Tour

1934

5.0

Movie
poster

Studio One

1948

4.7

TV
Target Hong Kong

Target Hong Kong

1953

5.0

Movie
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

1943

6.4

Movie
The Bamboo Prison

The Bamboo Prison

1954

6.4

Movie
poster

The Beachcomber

1962

0.0

TV
The Bitter Tea of General Yen

The Bitter Tea of General Yen

1932

6.1

Movie
The Clay Pigeon

The Clay Pigeon

1949

5.5

Movie
The Cobra Strikes

The Cobra Strikes

1948

5.0

Movie
poster

The Colgate Comedy Hour

1950

7.0

TV
The Conqueror

The Conqueror

1956

3.5

Movie
poster

The Dakotas

1963

5.7

TV
poster

The Dick Cavett Show

1968

6.7

TV
The Falcon Strikes Back

The Falcon Strikes Back

1943

5.6

Movie
The Fatal Hour

The Fatal Hour

1940

6.0

Movie
The Good Earth

The Good Earth

1937

6.2

Movie
poster

The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries

1977

7.0

TV
poster

The Incredible Hulk

1977

7.2

TV
The Keys of the Kingdom

The Keys of the Kingdom

1944

7.0

Movie
poster

The Man Called X

1956

0.0

TV
The Man with the Golden Gun

The Man with the Golden Gun

1974

6.4

Movie
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller

The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller

2002

5.8

Movie
poster

The Outer Limits

1963

7.8

TV
The Purple Heart

The Purple Heart

1944

6.0

Movie
The Quiet American

The Quiet American

1958

5.9

Movie
The Sand Pebbles

The Sand Pebbles

1966

7.2

Movie
The Scavengers

The Scavengers

1959

5.0

Movie
The Secrets of Wu Sin

The Secrets of Wu Sin

1932

6.0

Movie
The Shanghai Story

The Shanghai Story

1954

4.8

Movie
The Soldier and the Lady

The Soldier and the Lady

1937

6.5

Movie
The Steel Helmet

The Steel Helmet

1951

7.0

Movie
The Story of Dr. Wassell

The Story of Dr. Wassell

1944

6.3

Movie
poster

The Wild Wild West

1965

7.6

TV
To the Ends of the Earth

To the Ends of the Earth

1948

5.6

Movie
Tokyo Rose

Tokyo Rose

1946

5.0

Movie
Wake Island

Wake Island

1942

5.6

Movie
Web of Danger

Web of Danger

1947

4.8

Movie
West of Shanghai

West of Shanghai

1937

5.4

Movie
Women in the Night

Women in the Night

1948

3.9

Movie