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