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]
Acted in 123
2000s
- 2002
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
Sgt. Tanaka (archive footage) (uncredited)
1970s
- 1977
- 1976
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur
Chiang-Kai-Shek
- 1974
- 1973
- 1972
Kung Fu
Master Sun, Ho Fai, The Weapons Master · 4 episodes
Delphi Bureau
Shen Si · 1 episode
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon
Master Sun
- 1971
Chandler
Leo
One More Train to Rob
Mr. Chang
- 1970
1960s
- 1969
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
Kenji Yamashita
- 1966
- 1965
- 1964
- 1963
- 1962
A Girl Named Tamiko
Otani
Diamond Head
Yamagata (uncredited)
The Beachcomber
Ah Wei · 1 episode
- 1960
Hong Kong
Leo · 1 episode
1950s
- 1959
The Scavengers
Movie
- 1958
Hong Kong Affair
Li Noon
The Quiet American
Mr. Heng
- 1957
Battle Hymn
Gen. Kim (scenes deleted)
- 1956
The Conqueror
Captain of Wang's guard
The Man Called X
TV
- 1955
Crossroads
Colonel · 1 episode
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Robert Hung
Soldier of Fortune
Gen. Po Lin
- 1954
The Shanghai Story
Officer
Living It Up
Dr. Lee
The Bamboo Prison
Commandant Hsai Tung
Hell and High Water
Hakada Fujimori
- 1953
China Venture
Chang Sung
Destination Gobi
Commanding Officer, Japanese POW Camp (uncredited)
Target Hong Kong
Fu Chao
- 1952
5 Fingers
Movie
- 1951
I Was an American Spy
Col. Masamato
The Steel Helmet
Sergeant Tanaka
1940s
- 1949
Malaya
Colonel Genichi Tomura
The Clay Pigeon
Ken Tokoyama
State Department: File 649
Marshal Yun Usu
- 1948
Rogues' Regiment
Kao Pang
The Cobra Strikes
Hyder Ali
Half Past Midnight
Lee Gow
To the Ends of the Earth
Commissioner Lu (uncredited)
Women in the Night
Colonel Noyama
- 1947
Beyond Our Own
James Wong
Web of Danger
Wing
Seven Were Saved
Colonel Yamura
- 1946
Tokyo Rose
Colonel Suzuki
- 1945
Prison Ship
Capt. Okisawa
First Yank into Tokyo
Col. Hideko Okanura
China's Little Devils
Colonel Huraji
China Sky
Col. Yasuda
Betrayal from the East
Lt. Cmdr. Miyazaki, alias Tani
God Is My Co-Pilot
Tokyo Joe
- 1944
The Purple Heart
General Ito Mitsubi
- 1943
So Proudly We Hail
Japanese Radio Announcer (Voice) (Uncredited)
Destroyer
Japanese Submarine Commander
Behind the Rising Sun
Japanese Officer Dispensing Opium
Yanks Ahoy
Japanese Submarine Officer (uncredited)
China
Lin Yun
Flight for Freedom
Mr. Yokahata (uncredited)
The Falcon Strikes Back
Jerry
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Movie
- 1942
Road to Morocco
Chinese Announcer (uncredited)
Across the Pacific
First Officer Miyuma
Wake Island
Movie
Star Spangled Rhythm
Emperor Hirohito (uncredited)
- 1941
Secret of the Wastelands
Quan
- 1940
Doomed to Die
Tong Leader
The Fatal Hour
Jeweler
1930s
- 1939
Barricade
Colonel Commander of Rescue Party
Daughter of the Tong
Wong
Island of Lost Men
General Ahn Ling
Lady of the Tropics
Delaroch's Chauffeur
Miracles for Sale
Chinese Soldier in Demo
Panama Patrol
Tommy Young
North of Shanghai
Jed's Pilot
- 1938
Shadows Over Shanghai
Fong
Blondes at Work
Sam Wong (uncredited)
- 1937
West of Shanghai
Mr. Cheng
- 1936
Mad Holiday
Li Yat (uncredited)
Shadow of Chinatown
Movie
Roaming Lady
Chinese Seaman
- 1935
Stranded
Chinese Groom (uncredited)
- 1934
Student Tour
Geisha's Customer
Now and Forever
Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
- 1933
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
Captain Li
- 1932
The Secrets of Wu Sin
Charlie San
War Correspondent
Bandit (uncredited)
Appearances2
1960s
- 1968
1950s
- 1950
