Richard Loo

One of the most prolific character actors of the 20th century, Chinese-American Richard Loo had his most recognizable role as a Thai industrialist in the James Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun." Born in Hawaii to Chinese parents, Loo moved to California in his teens and became an actor after his career as a businessman was unsuccessful. In the '30s he mostly had uncredited bit roles as Chinese men, but when World War II began he would often be cast as a villainous Japanese soldier, as he was in the 1944 submarine drama "The Purple Heart." Other war movie roles include supporting parts in the spy drama "Tokyo Rose" and "Back to Bataan," starring John Wayne. In one of his rare sympathetic roles he played a Japanese-American soldier in Samuel Fuller's Korean War film "The Steel Helmet" in 1951. Although principally a character actor in small parts, he did occasionally have more substantial supporting roles. He played a general in the Clark Gable adventure "Soldier of Fortune," appeared with William Holden in the romance "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," and was Major Chin in the Oscar-nominated period drama "The Sand Pebbles" in 1966. Aside from his role in "The Man with the Golden Gun," he also made several appearances on the martial-arts-themed TV show "Kung Fu," where he played a Shaolin monk master.