Richard Kuen Loo (October 1, 1903 – November 20, 1983) was an American actor. He was one of the most familiar Asian American character actors during the Golden Age of Hollywood, appearing in numerous films of the 1930s through the 1950s. Though of Chinese ancestry, he often portrayed villainous Imperial Japanese military officers during the Second World War. Later in his career, he was active mainly on television.
Early life and education Loo was born in Maui, Hawaii in 1903. He was a third-generation Chinese American, of Hakka ancestry. After spending his youth in Hawaii, he moved to California as a teenager. He studied business at the University of California at Berkeley, and upon graduating he opened a successful import-export company in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, the 1929 stock market crash and the subsequent Great Depression prematurely ended his business career.
Loo became involved in amateur theatre productions in San Francisco, and later took up drama classes at Pearl S. Buck’s East and West Association in Chinatown. After turning professional, he moved to Hollywood to appear at the Pasadena Playhouse, and made his film debut in 1931.
Career Like most East Asian actors in Hollywood, Loo typically played small, stereotypical roles, though he rose quickly to familiarity, if not fame, in a number of films. One of his earliest prominent roles was as a treacherous antagonist in the 1933 pre-Code film The Bitter Tea of General Yen, directed by Frank Capra, which was singled out by columnist Louella Parsons. However, the lack of strong roles for minority actors in Hollywood meant that he was largely relegated to minor parts (many uncredited) until the outbreak of World War II. He was considered an "atmosphere" player along with Spencer Chan and Willie Fung, and served on the Screen Actors Guild's Racial Committee.
Loo’s stern features, sly grin, and sharp voice led him to be a favorite movie villain, and US entry into the war (along with the internment of any actual Japanese actors) gave him greater prominence in roles as vicious Japanese soldiers in such successful pictures as The Purple Heart (1944) and God Is My Co-Pilot (1945). In The Purple Heart, he plays a Japanese Imperial Army general who commits suicide because he cannot break down the American prisoners. According to his daughter, Beverly Jane Loo, the actor (who had been deferred from military service due to health issues) didn't mind being typecast as a villain in these movies as he felt very patriotic about playing those parts. In many of these films, he appeared alongside the Korean American actor and activist Philip Ahn.
Loo did also play more heroic characters. In 1944, he played a Chinese army lieutenant opposite Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom. In 1951, he played a war-weary Japanese-American soldier in Samuel Fuller's Korean War classic The Steel Helmet. However, he spent much of the latter part of his career performing stock roles in films and minor television roles. He also appeared in the hit Broadway plays South Pacific and The Teahouse of the August Moon.
In 1974, he played the supporting villain Hai Fat in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, opposite Roger Moore and Christopher Lee.
Loo was also a teacher of Shaolin monks in three episodes of the 1972–1975 hit TV series Kung Fu and made a further three appearances as a different character. His last acting appearance was in The Incredible Hulk TV series in 1981, but he continued to act in Toyota commercials into the following year.
Personal life Loo's first wife, Bessie Sue, was a well-known Hollywood agent. They had twin daughters Angela Marie Loo and Beverly Jane Loo. Beverly Loo was prominent in publishing, while Angela Loo Levy was a Hollywood agent and accomplished ski patroller. He later remarried to his second wife, Hope. He had a stepdaughter, Christel Hope Mintz.
Death Loo died of a cerebral hemorrhage on November 20, 1983, aged 80. He was buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery. His papers were posthumously donated to the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming.
Filmography Film
War Correspondent (1932) as Bandit (uncredited) The Secrets of Wu Sin (1932) as Charlie San The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933) as Capt. Li Now and Forever (1934) as Hotel clerk (uncredited) Student Tour (1934) as Geisha's customer (uncredited) The Painted Veil (1934) as Chinese peasant (uncredited) Limehouse Blues (1934) as Customer at Harry Young's (uncredited) The Mysterious Mr. Wong (1934) as Bystander outside store (uncredited) Stranded (1935) as Chinese groom (uncredited) Captured in Chinatown (1935) as Ling hatchet man (uncredited) Shadows of the Orient (1935) as Yung Yow - Chinese henchman (uncredited) China Seas (1935) as Chinese inspector at gangplank (uncredited) Roaming Lady (1936) as Chinese man (uncredited) Shadow of Chinatown (1936 serial) as Loo, Chinese man on street ( Chapters 5–7) (uncredited) Mad Holiday (1936) as Li Yat (uncredited) Stowaway (1936) as Chinese merchant (uncredited) After the Thin Man (1936) as Lichee Club headwaiter (uncredited) The Good Earth (1937) as Chinese farmer (uncredited) Lost Horizon (1937) as Shanghai airport official (uncredited) The Soldier and the Lady (1937) as Tartar (uncredited) The Singing Marine (1937) as Shanghai hotel official (uncredited) Outlaws of the Orient (1937) as General (uncredited) That Certain Woman (1937) as Elevator operator (uncredited) West of Shanghai (1937) as Mr. Cheng Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937) as Cop at shooting site (uncredited) Blondes at Work (1938) as Sam Wong (uncredited) Too Hot to Handle (1938) as Charlie (uncredited) Shadows Over Shanghai (1938) as Fong North of Shanghai (1939) as Jed's Pilot Panama Patrol (1939) as Tommy Young Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939) as Tong chief Miracles for Sale (1939) as Chinese soldier in demo (uncredited) Lady of the Tropics (1939) as Delaroch's chauffeur (uncredited) Island of Lost Men (1939) as Gen. Ahn Ling Daughter of the Tong (1939) as Wong, hotel clerk Barricade (1939) as Colonel, commander of the rescue party (uncredited) The Fatal Hour (1940) as Jeweler Doomed to Die (1940) as Tong leader Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941) as Henchman (uncredited) They Met in Bombay (1941) as Japanese officer (uncredited) Secrets of the Wasteland (1941) as Quan A Yank on the Burma Road (1942) as Commandant (uncredited) Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) as Emperor Hirohito (uncredited) Remember Pearl Harbor (1942) as Mandolin playing Japanese radioman (uncredited) Submarine Raider (1942) as Chauffeur Suji (uncredited) Bombs Over Burma (1942) as Col. Kim Little Tokyo, U.S.A. (1942) as Oshima Wake Island (1942) as Mr. Saburo Kurusu (uncredited) Across the Pacific (1942) as First Officer Miyuma Manila Calling (1942) as Filipino (uncredited) Flying Tigers (1942) as Dr. Tsing (uncredited) Road to Morocco (1942) as Chinese announcer (uncredited) City Without Men (1943) as Japanese spy (uncredited) Flight for Freedom (1943) as Mr. Yokahata (uncredited) The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943) as General Chan (uncredited) The Falcon Strikes Back (1943) as Jerry China (1943) as Lin Yun Yanks Ahoy (1943) as Japanese submarine officer (uncredited) Behind the Rising Sun (1943) as Japanese officer dispensing opium (uncredited) Destroyer (1943) as Japanese submarine commander (uncredited) So Proudly We Hail! (1943) as Japanese radio announcer (voice, uncredited) Jack London (1943) as Japanese Ambassador (uncredited) Rookies in Burma (1943) as Colonel Matsuda (uncredited) The Purple Heart (1944) as Gen. Ito Mitsubi The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944) as Chinese doctor on train (uncredited) The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) as Lt. Shon Betrayal from the East (1945) as Lt. Cmdr. Miyazaki, alias Tani God Is My Co-Pilot (1945) as Tokyo Joe China Sky (1945) as Col. Yasuda China's Little Devils (1945) as Colonel Huraji Back to Bataan (1945) as Maj. Hasko First Yank into Tokyo (1945) as Col. Hideko Okanura Prison Ship (1945) as Capt. Osikawa Tokyo Rose (1946) as Colonel Suzuki The Beginning or the End (1947) as Japanese officer (uncredited) Seven Were Saved (1947) as Colonel Yamura Web of Danger (1947) as Wing Beyond Our Own (1947, Short) as James Wong Women in the Night (1948) as Col. Noyama To the Ends of the Earth (1948) as Commissioner Lu (uncredited) Half Past Midnight (1948) as Lee Gow The Cobra Strikes (1948) as Hyder Ali The Golden Eye (1948) as Undetermined Secondary Role (scenes deleted) Rogues' Regiment (1948) as Kao Pang State Department: File 649 (1949) as Marshal Yun Usu The Clay Pigeon (1949) as Ken Tokoyama aka The Weasel Malaya (1949) as Colonel Genichi Tomura The Steel Helmet (1951) as Sgt. Tanaka Chinatown Chump (1951, Short) as Chinese counterfeiter Operation Pacific (1951) as Japanese fighter pilot (uncredited) I Was an American Spy (1951) as Col. Masamato 5 Fingers (1952) as Japanese Ambassador (uncredited) Target Hong Kong (1953) as Fu Chao Destination Gobi (1953) as Commanding Officer, Japanese POW camp (uncredited) China Venture (1953) as Chang Sung Hell and High Water (1954) as Hakada Fujimori The Shanghai Story (1954) as Junior officer Living It Up (1954) as Dr. Lee The Bamboo Prison (1954) as Commandant Hsai Tung Soldier of Fortune (1955) as General Po Lin House of Bamboo (1955) as Inspector Kita (dubbing Sessue Hayakawa, uncredited) Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) as Robert Hung The Conqueror (1956) as Captain of Wang's guard Around the World in 80 Days (1956) as Hong Kong saloon manager (uncredited) Battle Hymn (1957) as Gen. Kim The Quiet American (1957) as Mr. Heng Hong Kong Affair (1958) as Li Noon The Scavengers (1959) Espionage: Far East (1961) Seven Women from Hell (1961) as Sgt. Takahashi Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962) as George Wah A Girl Named Tamiko (1962) as Otani Diamond Head (1962) as Yamagata (uncredited) The Sand Pebbles (1966) as Major Chin One More Time (1970) (uncredited) Which Way to the Front? (1970) as Japanese naval officer (uncredited) One More Train to Rob (1971) as Mr.Chang Chandler (1971) as Leo The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) as Hai Fat
Television
Summer Theater 1 episode (Foo Young) (1953) Fireside Theater 2 episodes (I Cover Korea) (1953) (Major Chang in The Traitor) (1953) December Bride 1 episode (The Chinese Dinner) (1954) as Client My Little Margie 1 episode (San Francisco Story) (1954) as Mr. Tang Cavalcade of America 2 episodes (Ordeal in Burma) (1954) (Ho Chung in Diplomatic Outpost) (1956) TV Reader's Digest 2 episodes (Officer in The Brainwashing of John Hayes) (1955) (Lew Gar Mun in The Smuggler) (1956) Navy Log 1 episode (Dr. Van) (1956) as General Hashimoto Crossroads 1 episode (Calvary in China) (1956) as Colonel The Man Called X 1 episode (Assassination) (1956) Four Star Playhouse 1 episode (Wall of Bamboo) (1956) as Jo-Kai Tombstone Territory 1 episode (Tong War) (1958) as Quong Key Hong Kong 2 episodes (Low in The Jade Empress) (1960) (Thug in Suitable for Framing) (1961) Maverick 1 episode (The Golden Fleecing) (1961) as Lee Hong Chang Follow the Sun 1 episode (The Woman Who Never Was) (1961) as District Attorney Bonanza 1 episode (Day of the Dragon) (1961) as General Mu Tsung The Beachcomber 1 episode (Charlie Six Kids) (1962) as Ah Wei Hawaiian Eye 1 episode (Two Too Many) (1963) as C.K. Yang The Dakotas 1 episode (The Chooser of the Slain) (1963) as George Yang The Outer Limits 1 episode (The Hundred Days of the Dragon) (1963) as Li-Chin Sung Wagon Train 1 episode (The Widow O'Rourke Story) (1963) as Liu Yang Perry Mason 1 episode (The Case of the Floating Stones) (1963) as Mr. Eng I Spy 1 episode (So Long, Patrick Henry) (1965) as Mr. Tsung Honey West 1 episode (The Owl and the Eye) (1965) as Tog-Chinese fine arts thief Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea 1 episode (Timebomb) (1965) as Li Tung