Richard Loo
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Oct 1, 1903
- Died
- Nov 20, 1983 (aged 80)
- Place of birth
- Maui, Hawaii, USA
- Credits
- 126
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
Filmography
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
2002Movie
Sgt. Tanaka (archive footage) (uncredited)
Kung Fu: The Movie
1986Movie
Master Sun
The Incredible Hulk
1977TV
The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
1977TV
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur
1976Movie
Chiang-Kai-Shek
The Man with the Golden Gun
1974Movie
Hai Fat
Police Story
1973TV
Kung Fu
1972TV
Master Sun, Ho Fai, The Weapons Master
Delphi Bureau
1972TV
Shen Si
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon
1972Movie
Master Sun
Chandler
1971Movie
Leo
One More Train to Rob
1971Movie
Mr. Chang
McCloud
1970TV
Y.S. Chen (uncredited)
Hawaii Five-O
1969TV
Wong Tou
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1969Movie
Kenji Yamashita
The Dick Cavett Show
1968TV
Self - Guest
The Sand Pebbles
1966Movie
Major Chin
Family Affair
1966TV
I Dream of Jeannie
1965TV
Wong
The Wild Wild West
1965TV
Honey West
1965TV
Tog - Chinese Fine Arts Thief
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1964TV
Dr. Yahama
Bewitched
1964TV
Burke's Law
1963TV
Grass Slipper
The Outer Limits
1963TV
Li-Chin Sung
The Dakotas
1963TV
A Girl Named Tamiko
1962Movie
Otani
Diamond Head
1962Movie
Yamagata (uncredited)
Confessions of an Opium Eater
1962Movie
George Wah
The Beachcomber
1962TV
Ah Wei
My Three Sons
1960TV
Hong Kong
1960TV
Leo
The Scavengers
1959Movie
Bonanza
1959TV
General Mu Tsung
Hong Kong Affair
1958Movie
Li Noon
The Quiet American
1958Movie
Mr. Heng
Maverick
1957TV
Perry Mason
1957TV
Mr. Eng
Battle Hymn
1957Movie
Gen. Kim (scenes deleted)
Around the World in 80 Days
1956Movie
Saloon Manager (uncredited)
The Conqueror
1956Movie
Captain of Wang's guard
The Man Called X
1956TV
Crossroads
1955TV
Colonel
Navy Log
1955TV
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
1955Movie
Robert Hung
House of Bamboo
1955Movie
Inspector Kito's Voice (voice) (uncredited)
Soldier of Fortune
1955Movie
Gen. Po Lin
December Bride
1954TV
The Shanghai Story
1954Movie
Officer
Living It Up
1954Movie
Dr. Lee
The Bamboo Prison
1954Movie
Commandant Hsai Tung
Hell and High Water
1954Movie
Hakada Fujimori
China Venture
1953Movie
Chang Sung
Destination Gobi
1953Movie
Commanding Officer, Japanese POW Camp (uncredited)
Target Hong Kong
1953Movie
Fu Chao
Cavalcade of America
1952TV
Ho Chung
Four Star Playhouse
1952TV
Jo-Kai
5 Fingers
1952Movie
I Was an American Spy
1951Movie
Col. Masamato
The Steel Helmet
1951Movie
Sergeant Tanaka
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950TV
Self
Malaya
1949Movie
Colonel Genichi Tomura
The Clay Pigeon
1949Movie
Ken Tokoyama
State Department: File 649
1949Movie
Marshal Yun Usu
Rogues' Regiment
1948Movie
Kao Pang
Studio One
1948TV
The Cobra Strikes
1948Movie
Hyder Ali
Half Past Midnight
1948Movie
Lee Gow
To the Ends of the Earth
1948Movie
Commissioner Lu (uncredited)
Women in the Night
1948Movie
Colonel Noyama
Beyond Our Own
1947Movie
James Wong
Web of Danger
1947Movie
Wing
Seven Were Saved
1947Movie
Colonel Yamura
Tokyo Rose
1946Movie
Colonel Suzuki
Prison Ship
1945Movie
Capt. Okisawa
First Yank into Tokyo
1945Movie
Col. Hideko Okanura
Back to Bataan
1945Movie
Maj. Hasko
China's Little Devils
1945Movie
Colonel Huraji
China Sky
1945Movie
Col. Yasuda
Betrayal from the East
1945Movie
Lt. Cmdr. Miyazaki, alias Tani
God Is My Co-Pilot
1945Movie
Tokyo Joe
The Keys of the Kingdom
1944Movie
Lt. Shon
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944Movie
Chinese Doctor on Train (uncredited)
The Purple Heart
1944Movie
General Ito Mitsubi
So Proudly We Hail
1943Movie
Japanese Radio Announcer (Voice) (Uncredited)
Destroyer
1943Movie
Japanese Submarine Commander
Behind the Rising Sun
1943Movie
Japanese Officer Dispensing Opium
Yanks Ahoy
1943Movie
Japanese Submarine Officer (uncredited)
China
1943Movie
Lin Yun
Flight for Freedom
1943Movie
Mr. Yokahata (uncredited)
The Falcon Strikes Back
1943Movie
Jerry
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
1943Movie
Road to Morocco
1942Movie
Chinese Announcer (uncredited)
Across the Pacific
1942Movie
First Officer Miyuma
Wake Island
1942Movie
Star Spangled Rhythm
1942Movie
Emperor Hirohito (uncredited)
Secret of the Wastelands
1941Movie
Quan
Doomed to Die
1940Movie
Tong Leader
The Fatal Hour
1940Movie
Jeweler
Barricade
1939Movie
Colonel Commander of Rescue Party
Daughter of the Tong
1939Movie
Wong
Island of Lost Men
1939Movie
General Ahn Ling
Lady of the Tropics
1939Movie
Delaroch's Chauffeur
Miracles for Sale
1939Movie
Chinese Soldier in Demo
Mr. Wong in Chinatown
1939Movie
Tong Chief
Panama Patrol
1939Movie
Tommy Young
North of Shanghai
1939Movie
Jed's Pilot
Shadows Over Shanghai
1938Movie
Fong
Too Hot to Handle
1938Movie
Charlie (uncredited)
Blondes at Work
1938Movie
Sam Wong (uncredited)
West of Shanghai
1937Movie
Mr. Cheng
That Certain Woman
1937Movie
Elevator Operator (uncredited)
The Good Earth
1937Movie
Farmer (uncredited)
The Soldier and the Lady
1937Movie
Tartar (Uncredited)
Lost Horizon
1937Movie
Shanghai Airport Official (uncredited)
Stowaway
1936Movie
Chinese Merchant (uncredited)
Mad Holiday
1936Movie
Li Yat (uncredited)
Shadow of Chinatown
1936Movie
Roaming Lady
1936Movie
Chinese Seaman
China Seas
1935Movie
Chinese Inspector at Gangplank (uncredited)
Stranded
1935Movie
Chinese Groom (uncredited)
Student Tour
1934Movie
Geisha's Customer
Now and Forever
1934Movie
Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
1933Movie
Captain Li
The Secrets of Wu Sin
1932Movie
Charlie San
War Correspondent
1932Movie
Bandit (uncredited)