Woody Strode

Woody Strode roundhouse kicking stuntman in fight scene

Name: Woody Strode

Birth Name: Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode

Birth Place: Los Angeles, California

Occupation: Actor
Years Active: 1941-1994

Martial Arts Practiced: SeishinDo Karate - Seishindo Kenpo
Rank: Honorary Black Belt
Years Active: 1976-1994
Instructor: Frank Argelander aka Frank Landers

Spouse:
Princess Luukialuana "Luana" Kalaeloa Strode (1941-1980)
Tina (1982-1994)

Childern:
Woodrow Wilson Kalaeloa Strode
Junelehua Kalaeloa Strode
Lani Kai aka. George Clarence Dennis James Von Ruckleman Woodd III
Lee W.J. Woodd

HomePage: woodystrode.com

Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode - "Woody Strode" - (July 25, 1914, – December 31, 1994) Was a hailed Decathlete and Football star, playing for the National Football League and Canadian Football League from 1946 to 1949. During 1946, Strode played for the Los Angeles Rams as a rookie, and in ten games catched four passes for thirty seven yards.

Strode then played two more seasons for the Calgary Stampeders, winning the Grey Cup in 1948. Strode then retired from football in 1949 and became a professional wrestler with all the colorful wrestlers of that time, such as Gorgeous George, before finding even greater fame as a pioneering African-American film actor.

Strode was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor, for his role in Spartacus in 1960.

Strode also found the time to serve his country in the US Army during World War II.

Strode was a dedicated martial arts student and began his training in SeishinDo Karate in 1976 under the direction of Frank Argelander (aka Frank Landers). Landers married Strode's daughter Junelehua Kalaeloa Strode in 1979 and have a daughter named Luukia Kalaeloa Argelander.
Strode used his Seishindo Kenpo Karate training in several movies, one of which starred Martial Arts Champion Joe Lewis; "Jaguar Lives". Strode played "Sensei", Jaguar's side kick in the movie. Strode's martial arts training continued with Frank Landers through the development of Seishindo Kenpo, the art Strode carried with him until his death. Strode and Landers appeared in Fighting Stars Magazine July 1978 discussing Strode's training in Kenpo.

Personal Life

Woody Strode was the son of a Creek-Blackfoot-black father and a black-Cherokee mother.

Strode's first wife was Princess Luukialuana "Luana" Kalaeloa, a descendant of Liliuokalani, the last great queen of Hawaii. (1941 - 1980).
His second wife was Tina, an aspiring actress (1982 - 1994)

Princess Luukialuana "Luana" Kalaeloa Strode - 1979

Seishindo Kenpo

Woody Strode with instructor Frank "Argelander" Landers - 1976

Strode executing a Roundhouse Kick

Death

Strode succumb to Lung Cancer on December 31, 1994, in Glendora, California. Strode was buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside California.

Filmography

• Sundown (film)|Sundown (1941 in film|1941)
• Star Spangled Rhythm (1942 in film|1942)
• No Time for Love (film)|No Time for Love (1943 in film|1943)
• The Lion Hunters (1951 in film|1951)
• Bride of the Gorilla (1951 in film|1951)
• African Treasure (1952 in film|1952)
• Caribbean (film)|Caribbean (1952 in film|1952)
• Androcles and the Lion (film)|Androcles and the Lion (1952 in film|1952)
• City Beneath the Sea (film)|City Beneath the Sea (1953 in film|1953)
• Demetrius and the Gladiators ([954 in film|1954)
• Jungle Jim | Jungle Man-Eaters (1954 in film|1954)
• The Gambler from Natchez (1954 in film|1954)
• The Bowery Boys|Jungle Gents (1954 in film|1954)
• Son of Sinbad (1955 in film|1955)
• Buruuba (1955 in film|1955)
• The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments (1956 in film|1956)
• Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958 in film|1958)
• The Buccaneer (1958 film)|The Buccaneer (1958 in film|1958)
• Pork Chop Hill (1959 in film|1959)
• The Last Voyage (1960 in film|1960)
• Sergeant Rutledge (1960 in film|1960)
• Spartacus (film)|Spartacus (1960 in film|1960)
• The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961 in film|1961)
• Two Rode Together (1961 in film|1961)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962 in film|1962)
• Tarzan's Three Challenges (1963 in film|1963)
• Genghis Khan (1965 film)|Genghis Khan (1965 in film|1965)
• 7 Women (1966 in film|1966)
• The Professionals (film)|The Professionals (1966 in film|1966)
• Black Jesus (film)|Seduto alla sua destra, aka Black Jesus, aka Super Brother (1968 in film|1968)
• Shalako (film)|Shalako (1968 in film|1968)
• Once Upon a Time in the West (1968 in film|1968)
• Che! (1969 in film|1969)
• Boot Hill (film)|Boot Hill (1969 in film|1969)
• Chuck Moll (1970 in film|1970)
• Scipio the African (1971 in film|1971)
• The Deserter (1971 film)|The Deserter (1971 in film|1971)
• The Last Rebel (1971 in film|1971)
• Black Rodeo (1972 in film|1972) (documentary) (narrator)
• The Revengers (1972 in film|1972)
• The Italian Connection]] (1972 in film|1972)
• The Gatling Gun (1973 in film|1973)
• We Are No Angels (1975 film)|We Are No Angels' (1975 in film|1975)
• Loaded Guns (1975 in film|1975)
• Winterhawk (1975 in film|1975)
• Keoma (1976 in film|1976)
• The Million Dollar Fire (1976 in film|1976)
• Cowboy-San! (1977 in film|1977)
• Kingdom of the Spiders (1977 in film|1977)
• Ravagers (1979 in film|1979)
• Jaguar Lives! (1979 in film|1979)
• Cuba Crossing (1980 in film|1980)
• Scream (1981 film)|Scream (1981 in film|1981)
• Angkor: Cambodia Express (1982 in film|1982)
• Horror Safari (1982 in film|1982]])
• Vigilante (film)|Vigilante (1983 in film|1983)
• The Black Stallion Returns (1983 in film|1983)
• The Violent Breed (1984 in film|1984)
• The Last Warrior (1984 in film|1984)
• Jungle Warriors (1984 in film|1984)
• The Cotton Club (film)|The Cotton Club (1984 in film|1984)
• Lust in the Dust (1985 in film|1985)
• A Gathering of Old Men (film)|A Gathering of Old Men ([[1987 in film|1987)
• Bronx Executioner ([[1989 in film|1989)
• Storyville (film)|Storyville (1992 in film|1992)
• Posse (1993 film)|Posse (1993 in film|1993)
• The Quick and the Dead (1995 film)|The Quick and the Dead (1995 in film|1995)

Author

• Strode wrote an autobiography entitled Goal Dust (ISBN 0-8191-7680-X).

Strode Children:

Woodrow Wilson Kalaeloa Strode
Junelehua Kalaeloa Strode
Lani Kai Lani Kai
Lee Woodd

Strode Grandchildren:

Joshua Strode
Luukia Kalaeloa Argelander

Strode Great GrandChildren

Anuhea Makanani
Anela Makanani

References

• "Fighting Stars" (USA) July 1978, Vol. 5, Iss. 5, pg. 40-43, by: Nancy Frizzelle, "Woody Strode: Veteran Fighting Star Turns to Karate"
• Seishindo Kenpo: (Landers, Frank (1985). Frank Landers Seishindo Kenpo, vol.3: Encyclopedia of Knowledge, a teachers guide. Facta Publications).
• Woody Strode/Filmography: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Strode autobiography entitled Goal Dust (ISBN 9780819176806).
• Woody Strode Bio