Woody Strode was a Black Indian (his grandmother was Black Cherokee and his grandfather was Black Muscogee) and an outstanding athlete. This page was last edited on 28 July 2021, at 02:45. Strode had begun his association with Ford back in 1939, with an uncredited role in his classic western 'Stagecoach'. But Strode (who started his career in the early 1940s after a legendary athletic record at UCLA as a decathlete and a football star, and who died in 1994) is perfectly cast in the lead role as Rutledge and gives a powerful performance in one of the very few lead roles he ever played, among the 90+ films he appeared in, playing mostly supporting roles, sometimes even uncredited, during the early years of his film career. James Stewart Once Described What It Was Like Working with a Frequent John Wayne Collaborator, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5mcU74rHGM, James Stewart on what it was like to work with John Ford (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5mcU74rHGM). 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. It's clear they loved him. I'm glad you made it.. 1941:Sundown. Sam Raimi's Western "The Quick and The Dead," starring Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio, is dedicated to him. 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. (One stylistic touch: In this film, he habitually calls Stoddard "Pilgrim," which expresses an insight into the lawyer's character.). There are different takes over why, including that he thought it was a better medium. 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. (1960's edition! "It's heart and guts. Im glad you made it.. While in college, Strode and Washington held summer jobs at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, mostly running errands on various sound stages; he noted that most days involved standing around and waiting for someone to order something. Strode would become an assistant to some of the studios biggest stars including Bette Davis, James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland and Jane Wyman. He was both successful and a popular draw, but he gave up wrestling due to his popularity in motion pictures. He had many murders on his conscience, and much enjoyed using a leather bullwhip. He was in 87 movies over the length of his career, though Strode . Strode brought the best out of his castmates while stealing scenes, sometimes before he spoke a line. "They suffered on the field. Then, when the steeds had halted, he tried to pick a punch up with his younger co-star. Woody Strode was 6-3 (190 cm) tall. He wasan outstanding athlete before his entry into movies. An athlete turned actor, Strode was a top-notch decathlete and a football star at UCLA. I couldn't do it. [30], Strode was a dedicated martial artist under the direction of Frank Landers in the art of Seishindo Kenpo. "And this is not being facetious, but Mr. Ford defended me; and I don't know that this is going on. [21], He had a support role in Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958) and a small part in The Buccaneer (1958). But by 1946, Strode was 32 and the oldest member of the Rams as a rookie. His composition is classical. Woody Strode was born on the 25th of July, 2014. Also, he appeared in several episodes of the 19521954 television series Ramar of the Jungle, where he portrayed an African warrior. As James Stewart explained it, Woody Strode, the actor who was playing Wayne's character's best friend, was part of the scene. 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]. In Liberty Valance, a picture I did with Duke, Stewart recounted. "I'll continue to work in Europe because I'm a star there," Strode said in 1982, per TCM. (1969) and supported Terence Hill and Bud Spencer in Boot Hill (1969) shot in Italy. German director Leni Riefenstahl called Strode the greatest physique of any athlete I have ever seen.. In a long flashback involving most of the film, Ford recalls the events leading up to that day. Subscribe to our newsletter for new stories, tips & events. | Ford had to accept those terms or not make the film.. 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. Fortunately the DVD made-to-order Warner Archive specialty label is bringing back Rutledge at a lot lower price, starting next week. [8] They played eventual conference and national champion USC to a scoreless tie with the 1940 Rose Bowl on the line. He could beat Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic gold-medal decathlete, in . 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. Ford discovered Wayne, then Marion Morrison, when the latter was a University of Southern California student with a summer job on a studio lot. In 1967 he attempted to produce his own film, The Story of the Tenth Cavalry but it was not made. John Ford's "Apology" Western 'Sergeant Rutledge' Starring Woody Strode Returning to DVD. The drunken marshal won't protect him. He is a member of famous Actor with the age 80 years old group. Woody Strode played 10 games over his career. He was only 52. "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. "Race is not a factor in the world market," he said in 1981. Strode landed a major starring role as an expert archer and soldier of fortune in the 1966 Western The Professionals. Cecil B. DeMille cast him in The Ten Commandments (1956) as a slave at $500 a week for five weeks. 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. Strode gave the Hollywood establishment what they demanded and appeared in some of the best and the worst of what they offered him. Strode racked up 91 acting credits in six different decades, according to IMDb. Ray Hamel. 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." [6] They became famous nationally as "the Gold Dust gang". 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. All structured data from the file namespace is available under the. Strodes best known role was the gladiator Draba in Stanley Kubricks Sparticus (1960). | 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. 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. 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. "Stagecoach" and his cavalry trilogy, "Rio Grande" "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" and "Fort Apache" - were as bloodthirsty savages. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. We heard stories about Kenny Washington where he was just battered throughout the entire football game.". There's a lot in the film if we care to notice. There was nothing nice about it., It is believed that Strode made his film debut as early as 1939 as an unbilled extra in John Fords Stagecoach, but most work at the time saw him in blackface in jungle films. Strode hauled in a pass while a teammate lay on the grass at the far sideline, which left that receiver wide open on the next snap. But Ford had a cruel streak, PBS reports, and it emerged on the set of his movies. "I had a certain amount of crudeness that went back a hundred years, and that's what he liked. Liberty Valance cannot abide anyone standing up to him, and the shingle is an affront. This man was the definition of a renaissance man, keep reading this article and you will understand exactly why. "He is one of the most charismatic actors to work in American motion pictures. 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. Despite the lack of opportunities for actors of color in his era, Woody Strode left a legacy worth revisiting. Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. He served in the United States Army during World War II. 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. It is made clear in "Liberty Valance" that segregation was the practice in the territory. 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. Caleb Williams: 'I'd probably go to the Dolphins' if given c LSU's Nabers won't face charges after weapon arrest, Willie Taggart hired as Ravens' RBs coach, Florida loses defensive coordinator Patrick Toney to NFL, LSU's Nabers charged with illegal carrying of a weapon, Revamped AAC releases 2023 slate with 6 new schools. In fact Ford started out his film career as a actor and stuntman in silent films, including D.W. Griffiths notorious The Birth of Nation as one of the Klansmen who comes to the rescue to save the lives of white people under threat by violent renegade black men. "[7], "That was a classic," he later said. 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? In a later tribute to Strode, the 'Sheriff Woody' character in the Toy Story movies was named after him. Strode encountered racism in the NFL. The Pompey actor assessed: What a miserable film to make.. 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. 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. 1942: Star Spangled Rhythm. And I went on, and it went around the company: Stewart has never, hes always right up there., The day before the movie finished shooting, the cast was preparing to do the funeral scene. Canton called this summer, feting Strode and the rest of the Forgotten Four at Johnson and Glauber's urging. The club signed Washington and Strode that spring. United States. 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. 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. But they should be.". 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. Sheriff Woody, the beloved "Toy Story" protagonist, was said to be named after Strode. [3], "I got a cultural educationmajored in history and education," he said in a 1971 interview. He was an Indian in Shalako (1968) and played a gunslinger in the opening sequence of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). He also did professional wrestling and reportedly tussled with the renowned Gorgeous George. 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. I will not go into details because the suspense should not be spoiled. Woodrow Wilson Woody Strode (1914-1994) was one of the most prolific and reliable African American actors of a generation. TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. 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