While some reviewers and historians claim he could have been a more well-known and cast minority actor if not for his size and physically strong appearance, more along the lines of Sidney Poitier, a near contemporary, Hollywood of the past and present still has few positive roles outside of the stereotypical for ethnic males. The one awkward movement in the film comes at the big climax when the real killer reveals himself during the trial, in a scene so overwrought and overacted that it produces more guffaws than shock. What a cast! 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. Ford gave Strode the title role in Sergeant Rutledge (1960) as a member of the Ninth Cavalry, who is greatly admired by the other black soldiers in the unit and is falsely accused of the rape and murder of a white woman. At UCLA he was a track star, a football phenomenon and a performer on the Royce stage. Strodes best known role was the gladiator Draba in Stanley Kubricks Sparticus (1960). 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. Meanwhile, Motley ran rampant as a Browns halfback and Willis was an All-Pro defensive tackle, which landed them Hall of Fame nods as players. He was billed as the Pacific Coast Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and the Pacific Coast Negro Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in 1962. 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. Sergeant Rutledge is a 1960 western film from Warner Brothers and the director John Ford. Born in Los Angeles, he was an athlete and a football star in his youth. My dream is to play a Mexican bandit in the international market."[20]. They were married until her death in 1980 from Parkinson's disease. Is Woody Strode in the Hall of Fame? 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. He guest starred on The Lieutenant, The Farmer's Daughter and Daniel Boone and had roles in the features Genghis Khan (1965) and 7 Women (1966), the latter the last film he made for Ford. Woody played for the Los Angeles Rams after their move from Cleveland. Once dubbed "the Jackie Robinson of cinema" by Jet Magazine, Strode shared a backfield with Robinson and Washington in 1939. In 1946, Woody Strode was one of the first four Black men to play in the NFL. He wrestled professionally before rapt audiences. Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 - December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. "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." (One stylistic touch: In this film, he habitually calls Stoddard "Pilgrim," which expresses an insight into the lawyer's character.). I'd play a Viking with blue contact lenses and a blond wig if I could. The expansion Browns, trying to build a winner in the upstart All-America Football Conference, added Motley and Willis and went on to claim four straight league championships before the AAFC and NFL merged. Strode appeared in at least 90 films, from Sunrise in 1941 to his last, The Quick and the Dead, released in 1995. It deals with a black U.S. Calvary sergeant of a regiment of black troops played by Woody Strode (who appeared in several later Ford films, including his last film Seven Woman playing a Chinese warlord) who is court-marshaled for raping and killing a white woman and her father as well. I will not go into details because the suspense should not be spoiled. Ford had to accept those terms or not make the film.. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. Fortunately the DVD made-to-order Warner Archive specialty label is bringing back Rutledge at a lot lower price, starting next week. Reveling in the win postgame, Strode rode a horse into the lobby of the team hotel. 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. "I once played a part written for an Irish prize fighter. [29] He is buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California. 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. 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). Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Which is sort of remarkable, because they love each other. Next James Bond: Tom Hardy leapfrogged by 007 outsider, Robert Shaw Harrison Ford fury on Force 10 From Navarone 'total bull', John Wayne was really p***ed off: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was miserable shoot, John Wayne was constantly mocked by John Ford and even Jimmy Stewart was attacked too, Rio Bravo: Angie Dickinson on cute John Wayne being so different', Pompey star Woody Strode on John Wayne's left, John Wayne felt he couldn't hit back at John Ford since the director made him a star, John Wayne: The Searchers set revelation that saw John Ford speechless, How the West Was Won: Idiot drunk producer, near-death and more, John Wayne: Why Elvis turned down Dukes offer to co-star in Western, John Wayne: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon set feud that led to best scene, John Waynes final movie was NOT The Shootist Duke was in Star Wars, John Wayne never learnt his lesson over Hollywood roles. 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. Rams owner Dan Reeves didn't like that Strode's marriage was interracial: his first wife, Luana, was descended from a Hawaiian queen. ", - IMDb Mini Biography By: Strode made a successful transition from sports hero to the movie screen, though Hollywood seemed more predisposed to his magnificent physique and gallant stride than his acting ability. Strode also had a brief career as a professional gridiron football player and was among the first African . Everyone in Shinbone hates Liberty Valance, but they're powerless against him and his two sidekicks, one of them a giggling fool. 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. Acting wasn't his first passion, however, as football at Jefferson High School and UCLA brought him initial fame. He was usually unbilled in films like Sundown (1941), Star-Spangled Rhythm (1942) and No Time for Love (1943). Language. Strode's other television work included a role as the Grand Mogul in the Batman episodes "Marsha, Queen of Diamonds" and "Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds". Strodes filmography lists 68 appearances. [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). But Ford also effectively takes advantage of the physical, broad-shouldered, overpowering presence of Strode, shooting him often from a low angle to let him dominate the frame and the audience. Needless to say, the crime sets the townspeople aflame with hatred, and theres a lynch mob just itching to take matters into their hands. In 1980, Strode was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. [4][5], Strode, Kenny Washington, and Jackie Robinson starred on the 1939 UCLA Bruins football team, in which they made up three of the four backfield players. 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. He is killed and his death sparks a gladiator rebellion. But Ford had a cruel streak, PBS reports, and it emerged on the set of his movies. | 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. Working in the restaurant is young Hallie. We both gotta be professionals. "He is one of the most charismatic actors to work in American motion pictures. He had many murders on his conscience, and much enjoyed using a leather bullwhip. Actor William Holden and Ernest Borgnine and Woody Strode pose for the movie "The Revengers" in 1972. 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. 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? As James Stewart explained it, Woody Strode, the actor who was playing Wayne's character's best friend, was part of the scene. Shinbone is the only Western town I've seen in a movie with no prostitutes. Whistlin' Dan: 1932: Stagecoach Man in saloon : 1939: Sundown Tribal Policeman: 1941: Star Spangled Rhythm Rochester's motorcycle chauffeur: 1942: Bride of the Gorilla Nedo - Policeman: 1951: Lion Hunters Walu: 1951: You ride horses.' Tom Doniphon is a local farmer, who observes, "Liberty Valance's the toughest man south of the Picketwire--next to me." Calgary beat the Ottawa Rough Riders 12-7 in Toronto. John Ford put classic words in my mouth You never seen a Negro come off a mountain like John Wayne before. Years ago Shinbone was held in a grip of terror by the sadistic Liberty Valance (played by Lee Marvin in a performance evoking savage cruelty). How much did Woody Strode weigh when playing? Woody Strode has not been elected into the Hall of Fame. His illiterate students include Hallie. Woodrow Wilson Woody Strode (1914-1994) was one of the most prolific and reliable African American actors of a generation. How many games did Woody Strode play? And I did it myself. 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. 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. Stoddard has come to town with a satchel full of law books, and hangs out his shingle at the newspaper office. 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. 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. We also meet Link Appleyard (Andy Devine), the drunken town marshal; Doc Willoughby (Ken Murray), the drunken town doctor, and Dutton Peabody (Edmond O'Brien), the editor of the paper. Local sportswriter Halley Harding, a retired Negro Leagues shortstop, led a civic campaign that pressured the Rams to integrate as a condition of playing in the publicly funded L.A. 1941:Sundown. Born in Los Angeles in 1914, Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode died at age 80 on New Year's Eve 1994. 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. Ford's view of women is interesting. But he also was described once as a tough, two-fisted, hard-drinking Irish sonofabitch who was known to treat actors on his films horribly, by bullying, yelling and even mocking them. It takes place in the town of Shinbone, in an unnamed territory that is moving toward a vote on statehood. Strode, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, died of lung cancer in Los Angeles in 1994 at the age of 80. [21], He had a support role in Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958) and a small part in The Buccaneer (1958). Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with Kirk Douglas in Spartacus (1960). Stewart said: It looks a bit Uncle Remussy to me. This was a reference to the controversial fictional narrator of 19th century African-American folktales, who was later the main character in Disneys 1946 movie Song of the South a film that Disney does not make available today due to its racist stereotyping. 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. 1942: Star Spangled Rhythm. To me western town I 've seen in a movie with no.... Shinbone is the only western town I 've seen in a movie with prostitutes. In American motion pictures seen in a movie with no prostitutes under licenses specified on their page. 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