I make westerns.. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. 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. The result was a few films in which he seemed to be, in a way, making an apology for the wrongs he committed in terms ofhis distorted portrayals of people of color in his previous films. His illiterate students include Hallie. Despite the lack of opportunities for actors of color in his era, Woody Strode left a legacy worth revisiting. Strode was a college track and football star at UCLA, one of the first Blacks to integrate the NFL, a professional wrestler, a Golden Globe nominated actor, and a WWII veteran. 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. There are different takes over why, including that he thought it was a better medium. Born July 28, 1914, in Los Angeles, California, Woody Strode (Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode) was first of the star football athletes to become a successful film actor. He attended UCLA, where he played multiple sports and starred for the track and field team. 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. At UCLA he was a track star, a football phenomenon and a performer on the Royce stage. Woody Strode Height, Weight & Measurements At 80 years old, Woody Strode height is 6' 4" (1.93 m) . 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. But no pro team would draft African Americans. Ford discovered Wayne, then Marion Morrison, when the latter was a University of Southern California student with a summer job on a studio lot. He graced the screen alongside Sean Connery, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, and John Wayne, plus Joe Namath when the Jets quarterback toyed with acting in the afterglow of his Super Bowl triumph. After the war, Strode played briefly with the Los Angeles Rams and along with Washington became the first African Americans to play in the National Football League. "Their actions on and off the field opened a door that allowed other people to follow.". All three spend much of their time hanging out in the restaurant kitchen. [6] They became famous nationally as "the Gold Dust gang". [2], He attended Thomas Jefferson High School in South East Los Angeles and college at UCLA, where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. John Ford put classic words in my mouth.". Legacies. There is a purity to the John Ford style. In comparison, Ford had made combat documentaries for the Office of Strategic Services and had been wounded at the Battle of Midway, while Ranse star Stewart had been a bomber pilot who served with distinction. And he was dressed in blue overalls, a blue work shirt and boots. An old black cowboy named Pompey ( Woody Strode) takes Hallie on a buckboard ride into the countryside where they regard the burned-out remains of Doniphon's cottage. Ford used him again in Two Rode Together (1962) but it was only a small part, as an Indian. Strode made his first appearance in Sundown (1941) playing a native policeman. When World War II began, Strode was playing for the Hollywood Bears football team, but soon joined the Air Force and spent much of the war unloading bombs in Guam and the Marianas, as well as playing on the Army football team at March Field in Riverside. I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole, Stewart recalled. He and Kenny Washington integrated the National Football League (NFL), and Strode played for the Los Angeles Rams in 1946 before moving to the Canadian Football League in 1948. Nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his. Strode worked in B-movies through the '70s and '80s and acted as the narrator for Mario Van Peebles' Black Western Posse in 1993. Then came Lewis Milestones war film Pork Chop Hill (1959) and steady work would follow. German director Leni Riefenstahl called Strode the greatest physique of any athlete I have ever seen.. And he said loudly, We have an actor here who objects to the costume on Woody Strode. He then proceeded to suggest that Stewart was prejudiced Strode, who also has since died, was African-American and added that he just wanted to share Stewarts objection to Strodes costume with the whole cast. "I've never gotten over 'Sergeant Rutledge,'" Strode told The New York Times years later. He was also in Key West (1973), Loaded Guns (1975), The Manhunter (1975), We Are No Angels (1975), Winterhawk (1975), Keoma (1976), episodes of The Quest (1976) and How the West Was Won (1977), Oil (1977), Martinelli, Outside Man (1977), Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), Cowboy-San! On a road game in Chicago, hotel management gave he and Washington $100 each to find another hotel in the Black section of town. Woody Strode (1914-1994) Born July 28, 1914, in Los Angeles, California, Woody Strode (Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode) was first of the star football athletes to become a successful film actor. Inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Of course being a director from what is still called The Golden Age of Hollywood and despite the fact that Ford considered himself a political progressive (though he was close friends with actors he worked with who were often right wing reactionaries, like John Wayne and James Stewart), his films were not above dealing in negative racial stereotypes often. Strode encountered racism in the NFL. "They suffered on the field. Additionally, the. Otherwise, we would have been inMonument ValleyorBrackettvilleand we would have had colour stock. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/WoodyStrode. Woody lived in a modest home overlooking Glendora and the San Gabriel Valley, north east of Los Angeles about 25 miles. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. On top of that, in the early 1930s, Ford also made several films with long-lambasted black character actor Stephin Fetchit, likeJudge Priest and Steamboat Around the Bend, in which he played degrading and embarrassing supporting roles, often as a slow-witted, lazy buffoon. [31], Sheriff Woody of the Toy Story series of animated films is named after Strode,[32] as was the recurring character of the Santa Barbara Coroner in the television series Psych. The Cleveland Browns brought aboard Marion Motley and Bill Willis that same year. Tom has long considered Hallie "my girl," and is adding a room to his farmhouse that has a nice porch with a rocking chair, in preparation for the day he has no doubt she will marry him. Trapped for life. Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox, UCLA hires D'Anton Lynn as defensive coordinator, Harbaugh: Michigan good place to be despite challenges, Georgia's Dumas-Johnson charged with reckless driving. Producers approached him in 1950 to portray a Maasai warrior in a "Bomba, the Jungle Boy" adventure flick. No sentimentality or hopeful message. We used to sit in the best seats at the Coconut Grove (a nightclub in the Ambassador Hotel) listening to Donald Novis sing. In 1967 he attempted to produce his own film, The Story of the Tenth Cavalry but it was not made. Sheriff Woody, the beloved "Toy Story" protagonist, was said to be named after Strode. After that I said thats all I needed. The film made Strode a major star in European cinema, increasing his salary to a minimum $150,000 per movie. I said, All right, where are the pluckers?" Then Strode realised, I was out in the world market with a bald head. Played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League from 1948-49 before moving back to the US and beginning his film career. As James Stewart explained it, Woody Strode, the actor who was playing Waynes characters best friend, was part of the scene. [3], In 1941, Strode had dabbled for several months in professional wrestling. "These four men created a foundation on which generations built," Lonnie Bunch, the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, once said. I'm glad you made it.. This page was last edited on 28 July 2021, at 02:45. The narrative structure is told mainly in a series of flashbacks in which information is revealedin bits, leaving us guessing as to what really happened. . We both gotta be professionals. We need him!, In the end, Wayne told Strode: We gotta work together. After his football career, he went on to . This quartet struck a blow for racial inclusiveness in pro football as Black Americans sought it nationwide. Broken ribs and an ailing shoulder spurred Strode to retire in 1949. He explains: "The Western is intrinsically the most political movie genre, because, like Plato's 'Republic,' it is concerned with the founding of cities, and because it depicts the various abstract functions of government as direct, physical actions." Stoddard has come to town with a satchel full of law books, and hangs out his shingle at the newspaper office. He did 1,000 push-ups, sit-ups, and knee bends daily. [10] Strode and Kenny Washington were two of the first African-Americans to play in major college programs and later the modern National Football League (along with Marion Motley and Bill Willis, who signed with the contemporary rival All-America Football Conference), playing for the Los Angeles Rams in 1946. Youd have thought I was marrying Lana Turner, they way Whites in Hollywood acted, he recalled. Do you find this information helpful? In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. How many . He arranges his characters within the frame to reflect power dynamics--or sometimes to suggest a balance is changing. [20], He based himself in Europe from 1968 to 1971.[7]. On top of this, Reese actor Lee Van Clef who went on to star in Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns said that Ford resented the meddling and so would take out his annoyance on Wayne, whose casting as Doniphon was demanded by the studio. However Warners obviously thought that, though a black man was the lead in their film, the audience wouldnt be able to handle it. Never billed as a leading man in Hollywood, Strode moved to Rome in the late '60s to pick up prominent and lucrative roles in Spaghetti Westerns. He was drafted at age 27 and soon joined the United States Army Air Corps and spent the war unloading bombs in Guam and the Marianas, as well as playing on the Army football team at March Field in Riverside, California.[10]. He wasan outstanding athlete before his entry into movies. He could beat Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic gold-medal decathlete, in all of his events except sprints. An athlete turned actor, Strode was a top-notch decathlete and a football star at UCLA. Finally, it became way of life.[3], He had roles in Bride of the Gorilla (1951), African Treasure (1951) (another Bomba film), an episode of Dangerous Assignment (1952), Caribbean (1952), and Androcles and the Lion (1952), playing the lion, "the toughest job I ever had" he said later.[20]. Woody Strode was 6-3 (190 cm) tall. All Rights Reserved. Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 - December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. Even the final scene has an unexpected dramatic impact when, after Rutledge has been cleared of the crime, barely thanks his defense lawyer and goes straight back to leading his Buffalo Soldiers out for another tour of duty. However, by the early 1960s, when Ford was in his late 60s and nearing the end of his long career, the director seemed to have mellowed with age, discovering and exploring a more humanist side to himself. Woody Strode was born on the 25th of July, 2014. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. He also did professional wrestling and reportedly tussled with the renowned Gorgeous George. Robinson played college football at UCLA before he shifted to baseball full time and made history. His big break came in 1960. Following Cat Ballou (Oscar) this is one of 4 Westerns . Dnde ver La diligencia? The same thing will happen again to another black man, and he probably wont be as lucky as Rutledge was. The newspaper editor prints the truth about Valance, and for his pains has his office trashed and is whipped nearly dead. It was the only picture I did with Sergio Leonethe close ups were great, Strode said. Once dubbed "the Jackie Robinson of cinema" by Jet Magazine, Strode shared a backfield with Robinson and Washington in 1939. Smith Goes to Washington, did not escape Fords sadism unscathed. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, unloading bombs in the Pacific. 1951: The Lion Hunters; Bride of the Gorilla. "[7], "That was a classic," he later said. [7], With her he had two children, television director Kalai (a.k.a. "We were unconscious of color. "Race is not a factor in the world market," he said in 1981. John Ford has gone down as one of the greatest directors ever in film history. He films mostly on sets, but we're not particularly aware. But I must say I got a little smug about it. The film takes place at that turning point in the West when the rule of force gave way to the rule of law, and when literacy began to gain a foothold. Strode and teammate Kenny Washington were among the best-known college football players in the nation. The picture was about, oh, more than halfway finished. '"[12] He also said, "On the Pacific Coast there wasn't anything we couldn't do. More tributes followed. "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. . [33], Colo. It's been 15 years since Woody Strode's prime time in Hollywood ]: [4] When he walks into a bar to fetch Tom, the bartender won't serve him, and Tom slams hard on the bar: "Give him a drink." [19], They wanted him to shave his head. He was in a TV adaptation of Mandrake the Magician (1954), a pilot for a series that was not picked up, and had small parts in Son of Sinbad (1955), Soldiers of Fortune (1955), and Buruuba (1956) a Japanese film set in Africa. In the film, Strodes character recites the Declaration of Independence but apologizes for forgetting the phrase all men are created equal, a poignant line for the 1962 audience. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. The two became friends, and Ford later gave Wayne his breakthrough role in Stagecoach, the film that launched Wayne to Hollywood stardom. The pioneering Black character actor relocated from the United States to Europe for a while to pursue bigger and more interesting roles. Then he asked Stewart to come over. Has appeared in four films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The character Woody from the "Toy Story" films is named after Strode, who had appeared in a number of classic Western films. In response, Ford said: Whats wrong with Uncle Remus? The director then called the crews attention and shouted: One of ourplayersdoesn't like Woody's costume. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Bob Rea <bobnray@concentric.net> Supplied by UCLA, Corbis Historical / Sunset Boulevard / Getty Images. 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]. Woody Strode was born in California. As a showdown between Stoddard and Valance Ford begins to seem inevitable, Ford creates considerable tension. There's a lot in the film if we care to notice. Strode was in Storyville (1992), and Posse (1992), working with director Mario Van Peebles. [24], In 2021, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro, Movie Images: My Favorite Film Characters of All-Time! "But the producers answered, 'Not necessary. At the time Ford yelled: Dont hit him Woody! The way Ford employs the African-American Pompey is observant. In the twilight of his film career, Woody Strode reflected on the opportunities he was denied and others he seized. When World War II broke out, Strode was playing for the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast Professional Football League. After his football career, he went on to become a film actor, where he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960. His 1968 starring role as a thinly-disguised Patrice Lumumba in Seduto alla sua destra (released in the U.S. as Black Jesus) garnered Strode a great deal of press at the time, but the film is largely forgotten now. He was always magnificent with a no-nonsense style and quiet intellect that no athlete-turned actor has ever surpassed. 1952: African. "I once played a part written for an Irish prize fighter. The drunken marshal won't protect him. "The ban mirrored the status of Black Americans at the time: separate, unequal, and living in a de facto apartheid state via Jim Crow in the South and a patchwork of exclusionary laws and customs everywhere else," Patrick Hruby has written at The Guardian. by Merdies Hayes July 21, 2016 Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Strode (1914-1994) was one of the most prolific and reliable African American actors of a generation. He was usually unbilled in films like Sundown (1941), Star-Spangled Rhythm (1942) and No Time for Love (1943). In 1959 he portrayed the conflicted, some would say cowardly, Private Franklin in Pork Chop Hill, which brought him critical acclaim. He is Tom's farmhand and seems to be his only confidant, a protective presence; he always has Tom's back. My dream is to play a Mexican bandit in the international market."[20]. Acting wasn't his first passion, however, as football at Jefferson High School and UCLA brought him initial fame. 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. Tom Doniphon tells him that without a gun in his hand and the experience to use it, he will sooner or later certainly be killed by Valance. Ford's view of women is interesting. It's clear they loved him. 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. His name was the only one of the four "professionals" that was left off of the movie poster; nevertheless, the film was a major box-office success that established him as a recognizable star. He was billed as the Pacific Coast Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and the Pacific Coast Negro Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in 1962. Ford isn't making an anachronistic statement on racism, but he's being sure we notice it. I had the greatest Glory Hallelujah ride across the Pecos River that any black man ever had on the screen. Language. This story first appeared. Valance and his two sidekicks hold up a stagecoach on the way to town, and when one of the passengers, Ransom, stands up to him Liberty nearly whips him to death. Stoddard believes so firmly in the law that he is willing to lose his life for his principles. Woody played for the Los Angeles Rams after their move from Cleveland. Of these "Liberty Valance" was the most pensive and thoughtful. [21], He had a support role in Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958) and a small part in The Buccaneer (1958). 20072023 Blackpast.org. He was interred with military honors at Riverside National Cemetery, east of his hometown. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Woody played for the Los Angeles Rams after their move from Cleveland. In a film with Lee Marvin's snarl, Andy Devine's squeaky voice and the accent of the Swedes, John Wayne as usual provides the calm center, never trying for an effect. Strode had an excellent support part in The Last Voyage (1960) playing a heroic stoker, though he was only billed fifth. He was in The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961) and guest starred twice on Rawhide, playing an Australian aboriginal in one episode and a buffalo soldier in the other. He wrestled intermittently, once defeating Gorgeous George. I might have to kill you. He appeared in any number of other films, among them The Ten Commandments (1956). And strangely enough, Duke Wayne who, over the years, you know, has made lots of pictures with Ford Duke Wayne has been at the bottom of the list, in the barrel, more than anybody else. Race is not a factor in the world market," Strode said. 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. Strode was born in Los Angeles on July 25, 1914, the son . 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. 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. In the late 1960s, he appeared in several episodes of the Ron Ely Tarzan television series. Strode brought the best out of his castmates while stealing scenes, sometimes before he spoke a line. "And this is not being facetious, but Mr. Ford defended me; and I don't know that this is going on. Posed for one of two paintings commissioned by, Reportedly, his favorite film from his career was, Played college football for the UCLA Bruins, the most integrated collegiate team in the nation in 1939, which included future NFL running back. After football, he went on to become a film actor, where he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960. 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). In director John Fords Sergeant Rutledge (1960), a western where he depicted a soldier on trial for two murders and the rape of a white woman, when Strode bared his chest to a white woman (actress Constance Towers), even the movie audiences gasped. Strode's Associated Press obituary praised his work in Westerns and period dramas, but didn't mention the trail he blazed on the gridiron. Off the field opened a door that allowed other people to follow. `` [ 7 ], with he. Others he seized football career, he based himself in Europe from 1968 to 1971. [ 7 ] They. On July 25, 1914 - December 31, 1994 ) was an American athlete and actor he always Tom! States to Europe for a Golden Globe Award for best Supporting actor for.... Us and 3rd parties based on our understanding of you and Bill Willis same. On July 25, 1914 - December 31, 1994 ) was an American and... Newspaper editor prints the truth about Valance, and hangs out his shingle at the newspaper office Bride of greatest. 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Out his shingle at the newspaper editor prints the truth about Valance, knee... This license may be available from thestaff @ tvtropes.org friend, was part of woody strode stagecoach scene better. Portray a Maasai warrior in a modest home overlooking Glendora and the Pacific Coast professional football League ''... Angeles about 25 miles the African-American Pompey is observant 25, 1914 - December 31, ). In 2021, at 02:45 7 ] with director Mario Van Peebles 1951: the Hunters...