"I had five pairs of blue jeans, I was lonely, and I didn't speak the language," he said. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. [6] They became famous nationally as "the Gold Dust gang". Woody played for the Los Angeles Rams after their move from Cleveland. His wife is Tina Ellawee (10 May 1982 - 31 December 1994) ( his death), Luana Strode (14 October 1940 - 17 September 1980) ( her death) ( 2 children) German director Leni Riefenstahl called Strode the greatest physique of any athlete I have ever seen.. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/WoodyStrode. Two Rode Together is a 1961 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring James Stewart, Richard Widmark, and Shirley Jones. That same year, Strode played the eponymous soldier in "Sergeant Rutledge" - director John Ford's Technicolor Western - who is falsely accused of murder and rape. In the 1940s, at the beginning of the "Golden Age" of professional wrestling on television, Strode entered the game, campaigning as a "Baby Face" (hero) as opposed to the "Heel" (villain). But it must have made a real impact on Ford himself, since, in the early 1970s, he planned to come out of retirement with a new film about the life of the first black graduate of West Point, Henry Flipper. In 1964, there was his penultimate work, the nearly three-hour-long roadshow western epic Cheyenne Autumn, complete with an intermission, a70MM Super Panavision print, released by Warners, which told the true story of a Cheyenne tribe who travel by foot across 1,500 miles back to their ancestral hunting grounds, while US Army troops are ordered to send them back by force if necessary. Woody Strode weighed 205 lbs (92 kg) when playing. Following Cat Ballou (Oscar) this is one of 4 Westerns . He served in the United States Army during World War II. One of his last roles was in Posse (1993) in which he worked with director Mario Van Peebles whom he advised: I havent acted in a while, son, so dont go hedgin just because I been with John Ford. Strode also said he didnt believe hed see the day that a young Black man would be given the type of money to direct such a movie and have the opportunity say the kind of things he was saying., Lakers bring in Darvin Ham to help restore contention, Lebron James demands Biden bring home Britney Grimes swiftly and safely, A Victory for Black Golfers in Spite of the PGA Tour, Shelley Cayette makes history as first Black woman chief operating officer of an NBA team, Barger provides funding to Carousel Ranch program, Windy, chilly, wet storm conditions across Southland, Silent film festival scheduled this weekend. He became part of Hollywood lore after meeting director John Ford and becoming a part of the Ford "family," appearing in four Ford motion pictures. A Los Angeles native, he excelled in athletics at UCLA in the late 1930s, where he was explosive as a decathlete as well as part of the college football team that also included Jackie Robinson - he, Robinson, and future NFL star Kenny Washington made up . He broke two ribs and a shoulder. In 1940, UCLA and USC battled in what is believed to be the first cross-town rivalry game with championship implications. Woody Strode, byname of Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode, (born July 28, 1914, Los Angeles, California, U.S.died December 31, 1994, Glendora, California), American character actor who was part of director John Ford's "family" of actors, appearing in nearly a dozen of Ford's films. Otherwise, we would have been inMonument ValleyorBrackettvilleand we would have had colour stock. Robinson played college football at UCLA before he shifted to baseball full time and made history. Pompey actor Woody Strode remembered that Ford "kept needling Duke about his failure to make it as a football player", comparing him to Strode who was a former NFL player. His mother was full-blooded Blackfoot, and he played often, Indians in John Ford's films. He Wasn't the Star But He Stole the Movie", "Teammates Recall Jackie Robinson's Legacy", "The man who made the stars shine brighter: An interview with Woody Strode", "Woody Strode, Ace Negro Player, Has No Axe to Grind", "Isle families trace ties to '39 Pineapple Bowl", "Woody Strode; Ex-Athlete, Character Actor in Movies", "Like the series, 'Psych' movie a comedic romp", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Woody_Strode&oldid=1141910544, This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 14:07. [11] UCLA teammate Jackie Robinson would go on to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball (in fact, Robinson, Strode, and Washington had all played in the semi-professional Pacific Coast Professional Football League earlier in the decade). [21], He had a support role in Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958) and a small part in The Buccaneer (1958). If someone said, 'there's a Negro over there,' I was just as apt as anyone to turn around and say 'Where? He signed with the Los Angeles Rams in 1946 alongside Kenny Washington, an electrifying rusher and college teammate at UCLA. How many . Ford passed away in 1974. But it says a lot about them to be able to do what I would call something for the greater good," Johnson, reflecting on the Forgotten Four's feat, told CBS News this year. Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. Pompey actor Woody Strode remembered that Ford kept needling Duke about his failure to make it as afootballplayer, comparing him to Strode who was a former NFL player. "[13], In 1948 he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers of the AAFC, but was released before the season started,[14] whereupon he joined the Calgary Stampeders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union in Canada, where he was a member of Calgary's 1948 Grey Cup Championship team[15] before retiring due to injury in 1949. The others were Bill Willis and. It's clear they loved him. Kalaeloa, 19462014), and a daughter, June. "It had dignity. Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 - December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. DON'T MISSJohn Wayne: The Searchers set revelation that saw John Ford speechless[THE SEARCHERS]How the West Was Won: Idiot drunk producer, near-death and more[HOW THE WEST WAS WON]John Wayne: Why Elvis turned down Dukes offer to co-star in Western[ELVIS]. His world-class decathlon capabilities were spearheaded by a 50ft (15m) plus shot put (when the world record was 57ft (17m)) and a 6ft 5in (1.96m) high jump (the world record at time was 6ft 10in (2.08m)). I don't know if they ever will be. Perseverance. He could be seen in The Gambler from Natchez (1954), Jungle Gents (1954) a Bowery Boys movie set in Africa, and The Silver Chalice (1954). His parents were from New Orleans; his grandmother was African-American and "part Cherokee" and his grandfather was an African-American who claimed his own grandmother was Creek. We heard stories about Kenny Washington where he was just battered throughout the entire football game.". Strode and teammate Kenny Washington were among the best-known college football players in the nation. He stayed in Europe to make another Western The Unholy Four (1970) and went back to Hollywood to do a TV movie Breakout (1970) and two Westerns The Deserter (also known as "The Devil's Backbone") (1971), and The Gatling Gun (1971). Valuing his toughness, Ford cast Strode as Rutledge over future Oscar winners Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte. . He was only 52. He once said his interracial marriage (to an Hawaiian princess)and integrating the NFLwere the few times that racism caused him concern. But then, towards the end of filming, the director asked the Ranse star what he made of Strodes costume for the beginning and the end of the film when their characters were portrayed as 25 years older. He enabled the Stamps to score twice in the title game. They reunited 20 years later when he played the title role in Ford's rather neglected 1960 western 'Sergeant Rutledge', as a black Cavalry officer unfairly tried for the rape and murder of a white women and her father. He portrayed an assortment of African chiefs and guards until Cecil B. DeMille cast him in The Ten Commandments (1956), as the King of Ethiopia. "The big studios wanted an actor like Sidney [Poitier] or [Harry] Belafonte," recalled Strode. You can unsubscribe at any time. A handful of Black players suited up in the NFL in the league's earliest seasons, but franchise owners at the behest of George Preston Marshall, the segregationist founder of the Washington team, conspired to exclude them from 1934 to 1946. Every day, someone was at the bottom of the list in the barrel, as you say, Stewart said of Fords tendency to take his frustrations out on his underlings. But with his ill health and advancing age, the project was dropped. Which is sort of remarkable, because they love each other. Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 - December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. Strode, the six-foot-four pioneering athlete turned movie star, was born in 1914, in South Central Los Angeles, to Black and Native American parents. I'd play a Viking with blue contact lenses and a blond wig.". Your donation is fully tax-deductible. Woody Strode spent decades in Hollywood working with larger-than-life names, including John Wayne, Elvis Presley and Kirk Douglas. Acting wasn't his first passion, however, as football at Jefferson High School and UCLA brought him initial fame. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Strode was an athletic marvel in his prime. M, Last edited on 27 February 2023, at 14:07, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, Pacific Coast Professional Football League, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, "Woody Strode (19141994) Find A Grave Memorial", "Woody Strode? Despite the lack of opportunities for actors of color in his era, Woody Strode left a legacy worth revisiting. Keyshawn Johnson wrote a book about them. He simply does not have to say a word.". Not surprisingly, the film is considered one of Fords most overlooked and underrated films, and given the subject matter as well as the era in which it was made and released, it was not a box office success either. One day Sir Laurence Olivier remarked he was a big fan of his football days, with Strode replying: I dont know what Im doing here in your business. Olivier said, Woody, what youre about to do, I could never do in reference to his upcoming fight scene with Kirk Douglas. Las Vegas authorities investigating death of UNLV's Ryan Kee UNLV freshman football player Ryan Keeler dies, The ultimate, personalized mobile sports experience, Arrest warrants issued for top prospect Carter stemming from fatal crash, Chris Ault among 3 joining CFP selection committee, NCAA football panel out to shorten games, focus on player safety, NCAA imposes show-cause penalties on 4 ex-Tennessee staffers, UNC adds former NFL coach Freddie Kitchens to staff. He arranges his characters within the frame to reflect power dynamics--or sometimes to suggest a balance is changing. The picture was about, oh, more than halfway finished. And on occasion, he was even known to actually physically attack them when he was not playing his patented sadistic practical jokes on them, or when he wasnt on one of his regular drinking binges, which would last for days. Woody Strode was a Black Indian (his grandmother was Black Cherokee and his grandfather was Black Muscogee) and an outstanding athlete. This past August in Canton, Ohio, family members accepted the Ralph Hay Pioneer Award on the players' behalf at the enshrinement gala that precedes the NFL season. And during the trial sequences, Ford frequently dims the courtroom lights, leaving only Rutledge lit, alone in the witness chair surrounded by darkness alone and helpless as many black men on trial have felt, accused of a crime they did not commit. He wasan outstanding athlete before his entry into movies. His regular portrayal of Native Americansin most of his western films like The Searchers, Stagecoach and his cavalry trilogy, Rio Grande She Wore A Yellow Ribbon and Fort Apache were as bloodthirsty savages. [33], Colo. It's been 15 years since Woody Strode's prime time in Hollywood ]: [4] There are different takes over why, including that he thought it was a better medium. I never got a close up in Hollywood, and Sergio framed me on the screen for five minutes. Youd have thought I was marrying Lana Turner, they way Whites in Hollywood acted, he recalled. Now Hallie has started to like this lawyer-man from the East, who starts up a one-room schoolhouse to teach people how to read. "They suffered on the field. Rams owner Dan Reeves didn't like that Strode's marriage was interracial: his first wife, Luana, was descended from a Hawaiian queen. He was always magnificent with a no-nonsense style and quiet intellect that no athlete-turned actor has ever surpassed. Strode, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, died of lung cancer in Los Angeles in 1994 at the age of 80. As James Stewart explained it, Woody Strode, the actor who was playing Waynes characters best friend, was part of the scene. Strode takes it up from there: Bob Waterfield and some guys came looking for us because theyd made arrangements for us back at the hotel, he explained. "Visually, he is a tower of strength and also a tower of endurance," film historian Donald Bogle said about Strode in a Turner Classic Movies segment a couple of years ago. lcula de 1939 dirigida per John Ford; Film von John Ford (1939); filme de 1939 dirigido por John Ford; film; ; film t 1939 fan John Ford; film din 1939 regizat de John Ford; , 1939; film de John Ford; cinta de 1939 dirichita por John Ford; 1939; 1939 film by John Ford; 1939; film uit 1939; 1939 ; filme de 1939 dirigit per John Ford; pelcula de John Ford; vuoden 1939 elokuva; filme de 1939 dirixido por John Ford; 1939 ; 1939 ; film frn 1939 regisserad av John Ford; Stagecoach; Hllenfahrt nach Santa F; ; Stagecoach; Stagecoach; Chevauche fantastique; ; De fantastische Rit, Monument Valley, Arizona, US - panoramio (4).jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Stagecoach_(1939_film)&oldid=577190049, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Wednesday, 1st March 2023See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. [3], "I got a cultural educationmajored in history and education," he said in a 1971 interview. I will not go into details because the suspense should not be spoiled. Is Woody Strode in the Hall of Fame? The film makes it clear that, though a black man was found innocent, racial tensions will always exist; so what is the use of pretending that all is suddenly well? But Pompey won't drink. Additionally, the. In 1967 he attempted to produce his own film, The Story of the Tenth Cavalry but it was not made. Waterfield laughs and says: You sons of bitches, youre living good., Strode by then was in his early 30s and his football days were numbered. He is a member of famous Actor with the age 80 years old group. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. The same thing will happen again to another black man, and he probably wont be as lucky as Rutledge was. As played by Jimmy Stewart, Stoddard spends much of the film wearing an apron and washing dishes in the restaurant, sending a hardly ambiguous message about a man who doesn't wear a gun. Ford used him again in Two Rode Together (1962) but it was only a small part, as an Indian. Actor William Holden and Ernest Borgnine and Woody Strode pose for the movie "The Revengers" in 1972. Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. The newspaper editor prints the truth about Valance, and for his pains has his office trashed and is whipped nearly dead. This story first appeared. And I looked at Duke Wayne, and he was beaming like a cat that had just eaten the mouse And Duke came over, and said, Well, welcome to the club. As the film opens, U. S. Senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) arrives in Shinbone by the new railroad with his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) to attend the funeral of a man named Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). We both gotta be professionals. UsefulNotes/Notable Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age. Nationality: American. Though the film is an ambitious attempt to deal with one aspect of how this country has historically handled Native Americans (and there are several impressive scenes in the film), Cheyenne Autumn is seriously undercut by Fords ponderous direction, a wobbly, meandering script, his stilted wooden Indian characters who, a lot of the time, are standing like stoic statues, with the major speaking parts played by either Latino or Italian-American actors, and too many boring side stories involving white characters. In a later tribute to Strode, the 'Sheriff Woody' character in the Toy Story movies was named after him. More tributes followed. But the hotel we found was integratedand Count Basie was playing thereand we were fine. In 1980, Strode was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. He was reluctant until they offered him $500 a week. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Producers approached him in 1950 to portray a Maasai warrior in a "Bomba, the Jungle Boy" adventure flick. Integrating the NFL was the low point of my life. Though he made films in every genre, from dramas to historical epics, romances and even comedies, Ford has been justifiably associated with the western film and is considered one of the greatest and most influential directors in that genre, directing so many that Ford once said of himself, My Name is John Ford. View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro, Movie Images: My Favorite Film Characters of All-Time! In the trailer below, Strode is given third billing, though hes the lead. "I had a certain amount of crudeness that went back a hundred years, and that's what he liked. Tom Doniphon is a local farmer, who observes, "Liberty Valance's the toughest man south of the Picketwire--next to me." I make westerns.. "I've never gotten over 'Sergeant Rutledge,'" Strode told The New York Times years later. He was a decathlete and football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National Football League in the postwar era. In 1946, Woody Strode was one of the first four Black men to play in the NFL. He guest starred on The Man from Blackhawk (1960). He was a decathlete and football star who was one of the first African American players in the National Football League in the postwar era. At UCLA he was a track star, a football phenomenon and a performer on the Royce stage. Played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League from 1948-49 before moving back to the US and beginning his film career. Acting wasnt his first passion, however, as football at Jefferson High School and UCLA brought him initial fame. Liberty Valance cannot abide anyone standing up to him, and the shingle is an affront. (1979), and an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979). So why would actors put up with him? Often typecast as a physical specimen, commentators tended to dwell on Strode's athleticism and chiseled figure, ignoring his acting prowess, the film scholar Frank Manchel once wrote in the Journal of Black Studies. How much did Woody Strode weigh when playing? Language. Strode's later appearances included Cuba Crossing (1980),The Dukes of Hazzard (1980), Scream (1981), Fantasy Island (1981), Vigilante (1982), Invaders of the Lost Gold (1982), Angkor: Cambodia Express (1983), The Black Stallion Returns (1983), The Violent Breed (1984), Jungle Warriors (1984), The Cotton Club (1984), The Final Executioner (1984), Lust in the Dust (1985), On Fire (1987), and A Gathering of Old Men (1987). Strode and Washington, an All-American in 1939, linked up the following year with the Hollywood Bears of the minor Pacific Coast Professional Football League. They reunited 20 years later when he played the title role in Ford's rather neglected 1960 western . Professional Football Player, Actor. He wrestled professionally before rapt audiences. Sheriff Woody, the beloved "Toy Story" protagonist, was said to be named after Strode. Never thought of them as brothers though. When World War II broke out, Strode was playing for the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast Professional Football League. Then he asked someone to blow a whistle, which they did, and he called out, Everybody, would you please gather around? So they did. Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with Kirk Douglas in Spartacus (1960) ." Born July 25, 1914 Died December 31, 1994 (80) Add to list Awards 2 wins & 3 nominations Photos 37 Nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his. "On every play, if you're a (skill player) like Motley, Washington, or Strode, you can get pounded on the ground and beaten up," Greenburg said. Strode was in City Beneath the Sea (1953) directed by Budd Boetticher, and The Royal African Rifles. It's clear they loved him. "Sergeant Rutledge" boosted Strode's profile but didn't catapult him to superstardom, the Times wrote in 1971, surmising "he and the film, with its sympathies strongly on the side of the Black man, were ahead of their time." Donald Bogle, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks (New York: Continuum, 1992); Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB) title search by key word; Woody Strode,; The Timeout Film Guide, edited by Tom Milne, Penguin Books, 3rd Edition, 1992. He was Cree and Blackfoot on his father's side and Cherokee on his mother's. It was the first UCLAUSC rivalry football game with national implications.[9]. 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