Biography for
Woody Strode More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

25 July 1914, Los Angeles, California, USA

Date of Death

31 December 1994, Glendora, California, USA (lung cancer)

Birth Name

Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode

Height

6' 4" (1.93 m)

Mini Biography

An athlete turned actor, Strode was a top-notch decathlete and a football star at UCLA. He became part of Hollywood lore after meeting director John Ford and becoming a part of the Ford "family," appearing in four Ford motion pictures. Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with Kirk Douglas in Spartacus (1960)."

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ray Hamel

Mini Biography

Played college football and broke color barrier at the same time as Kenny Washington. Met his wife, a Hawaiian princess and stand-in for the swim sequences for Dorothy Lamour. Woody played for the Los Angeles Rams after their move from Cleveland. He was also a professional wrestler, wrestling the likes of Gorgeous George. Woody lived in a modest home overlooking Glendora and the San Gabriel Valley, north east of Los Angeles about 25 miles.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Bob Rea <bobnray@concentric.net>

Spouse

Tina	(10 May 1982 - 31 December 1994) (his death)
Luana Strode	(1940 - 1980) (her death) 2 children

Trivia

Strode was one of the first four blacks who integrated major league pro football in 1946. The others were Bill Willis, Marion Motley of the Browns and fellow Ram Kenny Washington.

The Rams gave Kenny Washington a tryout when they moved to L.A., and hired lineman Strode to be his roommate.

Prior to 1946, Strode played semi-pro ball.

Strode played several seasons for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League before moving back to the United States and beginning his film career.

Former pro football player.

Strode posed for one of two paintings commissioned by Adolf Hitler for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

Reportedly, his favorite film from his career was Sergeant Rutledge (1960).

Was a close friend of John Ford from the early 1960s until Ford's death, with Ford having preferred Strode's company over most other actors when the director became ill from cancer. Somewhat controversially, Ford usually waved off claims his films were racist by saying things like, "But my best friend Woody Strode is black."

According to John Capouya's biography of Gorgeous George, Woody paid him a visit late in 1963, and was shocked and saddened to see the extent of his old friend's decline.

On the highly macho set of The Professionals (1966), Burt Lancaster, widely known to be a very physically strong man, frequently challenged Strode to contests of strength and was allegedly despondent to be repeatedly bested by Strode.

Personal Quotes

Simply one of the most ridiculously perfect human specimens to ever walk the Earth. - Todd von Hoffman

If you're a nice guy, you can walk into a room anywhere in the world.

Salary

Boot Hill (1969)

$75,000 for 10 weeks