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]
Known For
Hai Fat
The Man with the Golden Gun
Major Chin
The Sand Pebbles
Colonel Noyama
Women in the Night
Hakada Fujimori
Hell and High Water
Jed's Pilot
North of Shanghai
Captain Li
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
Ken Tokoyama
The Clay Pigeon
General Ito Mitsubi
The Purple Heart
Lt. Cmdr. Miyazaki, alias Tani
Betrayal from the East
Colonel Genichi Tomura
Malaya
Jerry
The Falcon Strikes Back
Farmer (uncredited)
The Good Earth
Sergeant Tanaka
The Steel Helmet
Lt. Shon
The Keys of the Kingdom
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Maj. Hasko
Back to Bataan
Robert Hung
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Col. Masamato
I Was an American Spy
Gen. Kim (scenes deleted)
Battle Hymn
Sgt. Tanaka (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
Fu Chao
Target Hong Kong
Mr. Heng
The Quiet American
Jeweler
The Fatal Hour
George Wah
Confessions of an Opium Eater
Leo
Chandler
Col. Hideko Okanura
First Yank into Tokyo
Shanghai Airport Official (uncredited)
Lost Horizon
The Scavengers
Emperor Hirohito (uncredited)
Star Spangled Rhythm
Commissioner Lu (uncredited)
To the Ends of the Earth
Mr. Chang
One More Train to Rob
Colonel Yamura
Seven Were Saved
Chiang-Kai-Shek
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur
Mr. Yokahata (uncredited)
Flight for Freedom
Lin Yun
China
Otani
A Girl Named Tamiko
Commandant Hsai Tung
The Bamboo Prison
Mr. Cheng
West of Shanghai
Officer
The Shanghai Story
Wong
Daughter of the Tong
Yamagata (uncredited)
Diamond Head
Tommy Young
Panama Patrol
First Officer Miyuma
Across the Pacific
Fong
Shadows Over Shanghai
Charlie San
The Secrets of Wu Sin
Kenji Yamashita
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
Master Sun
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon
Marshal Yun Usu
State Department: File 649
Chinese Inspector at Gangplank (uncredited)
China Seas
Inspector Kito's Voice (voice) (uncredited)
House of Bamboo
Wing
Web of Danger
Tong Chief
Mr. Wong in Chinatown
Chinese Soldier in Demo
Miracles for Sale
Delaroch's Chauffeur
Lady of the Tropics
Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Now and Forever
5 Fingers
Wake Island
Capt. Okisawa
Prison Ship
Colonel Suzuki
Tokyo Rose
Tong Leader
Doomed to Die
Kao Pang
Rogues' Regiment
Quan
Secret of the Wastelands
Geisha's Customer
Student Tour
Colonel Commander of Rescue Party
Barricade
Chinese Doctor on Train (uncredited)
The Story of Dr. Wassell
Saloon Manager (uncredited)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Col. Yasuda
China Sky
Commanding Officer, Japanese POW Camp
Destination Gobi
Tartar (Uncredited)
The Soldier and the Lady
Hyder Ali
The Cobra Strikes
Captain of Wang's guard
The Conqueror
Chinese Merchant (uncredited)
Stowaway
Chinese Groom (uncredited)
Stranded
Dr. Lee
Living It Up
Japanese Officer Dispensing Opium
Behind the Rising Sun
Sam Wong (uncredited)
Blondes at Work
Japanese Submarine Commander
Destroyer
Japanese Radio Announcer (Voice) (Uncredited)
So Proudly We Hail
Chinese Seaman
Roaming Lady
Lee Gow
Half Past Midnight
Chinese Announcer (uncredited)
Road to Morocco
Colonel Huraji
China's Little Devils
Tokyo Joe
God Is My Co-Pilot
Li Yat (uncredited)
Mad Holiday
Li Noon
Hong Kong Affair
Gen. Po Lin
Soldier of Fortune
James Wong
Beyond Our Own
Chang Sung
China Venture
General Ahn Ling
Island of Lost Men
Master Sun
Kung Fu: The Movie
Charlie (uncredited)
Too Hot to Handle
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
91
Gender
Male
Birthday
1903-10-01
Place of Birth
Maui, Hawaii, USA
Also Known As