Richard Loo

Richard Loo

Loo, circa 1974
Born (1903-10-01)October 1, 1903
Maui, Hawaii, U.S.A.
Died November 20, 1983(1983-11-20) (aged 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Cause of death Cerebral hemorrhage
Resting place San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Occupation actor
Years active 1931—83
Religion Roman Catholic
Spouse(s)

Bessie Loo (1929-1960); divorce

Hope Loo (1964-1983); his death

Richard Loo (October 1, 1903 – November 20, 1983) was a third generation Chinese-American[1] film actor who was one of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. A prolific actor, he appeared in over 120 films between 1931 and 1982.

Early life and career

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. However, the stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent economic depression forced him 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 the Second World War. 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.[1] 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 1972–75 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. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on November 20, 1983.

Personal life

His first wife, Bessie Loo, was a well-known Hollywood agent. They had twin daughters: Beverly Loo was prominent in publishing while Angela Loo Levy was a Hollywood agent and accomplished ski patroller.

He remained with his second wife, Hope, until his death.[2] His step-daughter, Christel Hope Mintz, was an analyst with Shell Oil Company for 32 years.

Filmography

Television

  • Summer Theater 1 episode (Foo Young) (1953)
  • Fireside Theater 2 episodes (I Cover Korea) (1953) (Major Chang in The Traitor) (1953)
  • December Bride 1 episode (Client in The Chinese Dinner) (1954)
  • My Little Margie 1 episode (Mr. Tang in San Francisco Story) (1954)
  • Cavalcade of America 2 episodes (Ordeal in Burma) (1954) (Ho Chung in Diplomatic Outpost) (1956)
  • TV Reader's Digest 2 episodes (Officer in The Brainwashing of John Hayes) (1955) (Lew Gar Mun in The Smuggler) (1956)
  • Navy Log 1 episode (General Hashimoto in Dr. Van) (1956)
  • Crossroads 1 episode (Colonel in Calvary in China) (1956)
  • The Man Called X 1 episode (Assassination) (1956)
  • Four Star Playhouse 1 episode (Jo-Kai in Wall of Bamboo) (1956)
  • Tombstone Territory 1 episode (Quong Key in Tong War) (1958)
  • Hong Kong 2 episodes (Low in The Jade Empress) (1960) (Thug in Suitable for Framing) (1961)
  • Maverick 1 episode (Lee Hong Chang in The Golden Fleecing) (1961)
  • Follow the Sun 1 episode (The Woman Who Never Was) (1961)
  • Bonanza 1 episode (General Mu Tsung in Day of the Dragon) (1961)
  • The Beachcomber 1 episode (Ah Wei in Charlie Six Kids) (1962)
  • Hawaiian Eye 1 episode (C.K. Yang in Two Too Many) (1963)
  • The Dakotas 1 episode (George Yang in The Chooser of the Slain) (1963)
  • The Outer Limits 1 episode (Li-Chin Sung in The Hundred Days of the Dragon) (1963)
  • Wagon Train 1 episode (Liu Yang in The Widow O'Rourke Story) (1963)
  • Perry Mason 1 episode (Mr. Eng in The Case of the Floating Stones) (1963)
  • I Spy 1 episode (Mr. Tsung in So Long, Patrick Henry) (1965)
  • Honey West 1 episode (Tog-Chinese fine arts thief in The Owl and the Eye) (1965)
  • Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea 1 episode (Li Tung in Timebomb) (1965)
  • Burke's Law 1 episode (Grass Slipper in Deadlier Than the Male) (1965)
  • The Wackiest Ship in the Army 2 episodes (Admiral Osuma in The Lamb Who Hunted Wolves: Parts I & II) (1966)
  • The Wild Wild West 1 episode (Wang Chung in The Night the Dragon Screamed) (1966)
  • I Dream of Jeannie 1 episode (Wong in Jeannie and the Kidnap Caper) (1966)
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 1 episode (Dr. Yahama in The Indian Affairs Affair) (1966)
  • Family Affair 1 episode (Mr. Chen in The Mother Tongue) (1967)
  • My Three Sons 1 episode (Chang in Weekend in Paradise) (1967)
  • Hawaii Five-O 1 episode (Wong Tou in Twenty-Four Karat Kill) (1968)
  • It Takes a Thief 3 episodes (Clown in A Case of Red Turnips) (1968) (Dr. Langpoor in Payoff in the Piazza) (1969) (Wong in Project X) (1970)
  • Marcus Welby, M.D. 1 episode (Kenji Yamashita in A Matter of Humanities) (1969)
  • Here Comes the Brides 1 episode (Chi Pei in Marriage, Chinese Style) (1969)
  • Bewitched 1 episode (Mr. Tanaka in Samantha's Better Halves) (1970)
  • The Sixth Sense 1 episode (Matsuo in With This Ring, I Thee Kill) (1972)
  • The Delphi Bureau 1 episode (Shen Si in The Deadly Little Errand) (1972)
  • Kung Fu 6 episodes (Master Sun in Pilot (1972) Blood Brother (1973) Besieged: Cannon at the Gates (1974)) (Chen in The Tong) (1973) (Wu Chang in Arrogant Dragon) (1974) (Ho Fai, the weapons master in The Devil's Champion) (1974)
  • Ironside 1 episode (Lin Chu Tai in In the Forests of the Night) (1973)
  • McCloud 1 episode (Y.S. Chen in The Solid Gold Swingers) (1973) (uncredited)
  • Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law 1 episode (Tanaka in The Attacker) (1974)
  • Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur TV movie (Chiang-Kai-Shek) (1976)
  • The Quest 1 episode (Dr. Li Po in Welcome to America, Jade Snow) (1976)
  • Police Story 1 episode (Eddie Lee in The Blue Fog) (1977)
  • The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries 1 episode (Chen Lee in The Secret of the Jade Kwan Yin) (1977)
  • The Incredible Hulk 1 episode (Kam Chong in East Winds) (1981)

References

  1. 1 2 "Obituary: RICHARD LOO, ACTOR 5 DECADES". The New York Times. November 22, 1983. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ Devine, Elizabeth (November 1984). Annual Obituary 1983. St. James. p. 552. ISBN 978-0-912289-07-6. Retrieved 2 July 2011.

External links

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