Richard Loo

Richard Loo

Biography: 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]

Place of Birth: Not available

Birthday: October 01, 1903

Deathday: November 20, 1983

Popularity:

4.007

Known For

The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun

1974-12-04

The Sand Pebbles
The Sand Pebbles

1966-12-20

Women in the Night
Women in the Night

1948-01-02

Hell and High Water
Hell and High Water

1954-02-06

North of Shanghai
North of Shanghai

1939-01-24

The Bitter Tea of General Yen
The Bitter Tea of General Yen

1932-12-25

The Clay Pigeon
The Clay Pigeon

1949-03-03

The Purple Heart
The Purple Heart

1944-02-25

Betrayal from the East
Betrayal from the East

1945-04-24

Malaya
Malaya

1949-12-27

The Falcon Strikes Back
The Falcon Strikes Back

1943-04-01

The Good Earth
The Good Earth

1937-06-02

The Steel Helmet
The Steel Helmet

1951-01-24

The Keys of the Kingdom
The Keys of the Kingdom

1944-12-15

The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

1943-02-19

Back to Bataan
Back to Bataan

1945-05-30

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

1955-08-18

I Was an American Spy
I Was an American Spy

1951-04-14

Battle Hymn
Battle Hymn

1957-02-14

The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller

2002-07-02

Target Hong Kong
Target Hong Kong

1953-02-06

The Quiet American
The Quiet American

1958-02-08

The Fatal Hour
The Fatal Hour

1940-01-15

Confessions of an Opium Eater
Confessions of an Opium Eater

1962-06-20

Chandler
Chandler

1971-12-01

First Yank into Tokyo
First Yank into Tokyo

1945-09-05

Lost Horizon
Lost Horizon

1937-03-03

The Scavengers
The Scavengers

1959-10-01

Star Spangled Rhythm
Star Spangled Rhythm

1942-03-05

To the Ends of the Earth
To the Ends of the Earth

1948-02-07

One More Train to Rob
One More Train to Rob

1971-02-19

Seven Were Saved
Seven Were Saved

1947-03-28

Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur

1976-01-04

Flight for Freedom
Flight for Freedom

1943-04-14

China
China

1943-04-21

A Girl Named Tamiko
A Girl Named Tamiko

1962-12-27

The Bamboo Prison
The Bamboo Prison

1954-06-15

West of Shanghai
West of Shanghai

1937-10-30

The Shanghai Story
The Shanghai Story

1954-09-01

Daughter of the Tong
Daughter of the Tong

1939-08-28

Diamond Head
Diamond Head

1962-12-27

Panama Patrol
Panama Patrol

1939-03-20

Across the Pacific
Across the Pacific

1942-09-04

Shadows Over Shanghai
Shadows Over Shanghai

1938-10-14

The Secrets of Wu Sin
The Secrets of Wu Sin

1932-12-15

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

1969-03-26

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

1972-02-22

State Department: File 649
State Department: File 649

1949-02-11

China Seas
China Seas

1935-08-09

House of Bamboo
House of Bamboo

1955-07-01

Web of Danger
Web of Danger

1947-06-10

Mr. Wong in Chinatown
Mr. Wong in Chinatown

1939-08-01

Miracles for Sale
Miracles for Sale

1939-08-10

Lady of the Tropics
Lady of the Tropics

1939-08-11

Now and Forever
Now and Forever

1934-08-31

5 Fingers
5 Fingers

1952-02-22

Wake Island
Wake Island

1942-08-11

Prison Ship
Prison Ship

1945-11-15

Tokyo Rose
Tokyo Rose

1946-02-08

Doomed to Die
Doomed to Die

1940-08-12

Rogues' Regiment
Rogues' Regiment

1948-12-28

Secret of the Wastelands
Secret of the Wastelands

1941-11-15

Student Tour
Student Tour

1934-10-05

Barricade
Barricade

1939-12-08

The Story of Dr. Wassell
The Story of Dr. Wassell

1944-07-04

Around the World in Eighty Days
Around the World in Eighty Days

1956-10-17

China Sky
China Sky

1945-05-16

Destination Gobi
Destination Gobi

1953-03-20

The Soldier and the Lady
The Soldier and the Lady

1937-04-09

The Cobra Strikes
The Cobra Strikes

1948-04-24

The Conqueror
The Conqueror

1956-03-28

Stowaway
Stowaway

1936-12-25

Stranded
Stranded

1935-06-29

Living It Up
Living It Up

1954-07-15

Behind the Rising Sun
Behind the Rising Sun

1943-08-01

Blondes at Work
Blondes at Work

1938-02-05

Destroyer
Destroyer

1943-08-19

So Proudly We Hail
So Proudly We Hail

1943-09-09

Roaming Lady
Roaming Lady

1936-05-02

Half Past Midnight
Half Past Midnight

1948-03-01

Road to Morocco
Road to Morocco

1942-11-10

China's Little Devils
China's Little Devils

1945-05-27

God Is My Co-Pilot
God Is My Co-Pilot

1945-04-07

Mad Holiday
Mad Holiday

1936-11-13

Hong Kong Affair
Hong Kong Affair

1958-05-11

Soldier of Fortune
Soldier of Fortune

1955-05-24

Beyond Our Own
Beyond Our Own

1947-11-16

China Venture
China Venture

1953-09-07

Island of Lost Men
Island of Lost Men

1939-08-16