Men Of Character Character Actors
Woody Strode
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance/ Pompey
Kingdom Of The Spiders/ Walter Colby
Pork Chop Hill/ Pvt Franklin
Spartacus/ Draba
Per Quinlan's Character Stars:
Strapping ( 6' 5") muscular, often shaven headed black American actor with granite carved features. A former professional footballer and all around athlete.....
Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode was born in 1914 at Los Angeles, CA.
Strode was an all around decathalete and football star at U C L A. He also played football professionally for the Los Angeles Rams. In additional to football he also wrestled professionally as well.
Strode became part of Hollywood and the film industry after meeting director John Ford and becoming part of the Ford "Family".
His first film was in an uncredited part in the 1939 film Stagecoach.
Some of the film roles of Woody Strode were:
Stagecoach (1939) as Man In Saloon
Sundown (1941) as Tribal Policeman
No Time For Love (1943) as A Sandhog
The Lion Hunters (951) as Walu
Bride Of The Gorilla (1951) as Nedo Native Policeman
African Treasure (1952) as Mailman
Caribbean (1952) as Essau
Androcles And The Lion (1952) as The Lion
City Beneath The Sea (1953) as Djion
The Royal African Rifles (1953) as Soldier
Jungle Man Eaters (1954) as Native Escort
Demetrius And The Gladiators (1954) as A Gladiator
The Gambler From Natchez (1954) as Josh
Jungle Gents (1954) as Malaka
The Silver Chalice (1954) as A Moor
Mandrake The Magician (1954-TV) as Lothar
Son Of Sinbad (1955) as Guard
Baruuba (1955) as Native Chief
The Ten Commandments (1956) as King Of Ethiopia
Tarzan's Fight For Life (1958) as Ramo
The Buccaneer ( 1958) as Toro
Pork Chop Hill (1958) as Pvt. Franklin
The Last Voyage (1960) as Hank Lawson
Sergeant Rutledge (1960) as 1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge
Spartacus (1960) as Draba
The Sins Of Rachel Cade (1961) as Muwango
Two Rode Together (1961) as Stone Calf
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) as Pompey
Tarzan's Three Challenges (1963) as Khan/ Dying Leader
Genghis Khan (1965) as Sengal
7 Women (1966) as Lean Warrior
The Professionals (1966) as Jake
Black Jesus (1968) as Maurice Lalubi
Shalako (1968) as Chato
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) as Stony
Che! (1969) as Guillermo
Boot Hill (1969) as Thomas
The Unholy Four (1970) as Woody
Breakout (1970-TV) as Skip Manion
The Deserter (1971) as Jackson
The Gatling Gun (1971) as Runner The Scout
Scripto The African (1971) as Massinissa
The Last Rebel (1971) as Duncan
The Ravengers (1972) as Job
The Italian Connection (1972) as Frank
Key West (1973-TV) as Candy Rhodes
Winterhawk (1975) as Big Rude
Keoma (1975) as George
The Quest-The Longest Drive (1976-TV) as Tucker
How The West Was Won (1977-TV Miniseries) as Arapaho Chief
Martinelli, Outside Man (1977-TV) as Shaker Thompson
Kingdom Of The Spiders (1977) as Walter Colby
Ravagers (1979) as Brown
Jaguar Lives! (1979) as Sensei
Cuba Crossing (1980) as Titi
Scream (1981) as Charlie Winters
Angkor: Cambodia Express (1982) as Woody
Invaders Of The Lost Gold (1982) as Cal
Vigilante (1983) as Rake
The Black Stallion Returns (1983) as Mestar
The Violent Breed (1983) as Polo
The Final Executioner (1984) as Sam
Jungle Warriors (1984) as Luther
The Cotton Club (1984) as Holmes
Lust In The Dust (1985) as Blackman, Hard Case Gang
On Fire (1987-TV) as Woody
A Gathering Of Old Men (1987-TV) as Yank
Storyville (1992) as Charlie Sumpter
Posse (1993) as Storyteller
The Quick And The Dead (1995) as Charlie Moonlight.
Reportedly, Woody Strode's favorite film was that of The Trial Of Sgt. Rutledge.
Mr. Strode was very active on television appearing in such programs as Dangerous Assignment, Ramar Of The Jungle, Soldiers Of Fortune, Jungle Jim, Private Secretary, Rawhide, The Lieutenant, The Farmer's Daughter, Daniel Boone, Batman, Tarzan, The Quest, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, The Dukes Of Hazzard and Fantasy Island among others.
Strode was married twice.
His first wife Luana died in 1980 and the couple had two children.
He remarried for the second time to his wife Tina and they remained together until his death.
Woody Strode passed away in 1994 from lung cancer.
Another of my favorite actors, I enjoyed Woody Strode in the films Spartacus, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Last Voyage, The Kingdom Of The Spiders, Boot Hill, Mandrake The Magician,, The Two Rode Together, Tarzan's Fight For Life, Bride Of The Gorilla and Caribbean.
Louie The Movie Buff