Woody Strode Height, Weight, Age, Wife, Children

Woody Strode was an American actor, football player, wrestler, author, and martial artist who became one of the first Black American players in the National Football League in the postwar era. He also branched out as an actor and was cast in projects such as Tarzan’s Three Challenges, The Lion Hunters, Caribbean, City Beneath the Sea, Androcles and the Lion, The Ten Commandments, Genghis Khan, The Gambler from Natchez, Buruuba, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Last Voyage, Pork Chop Hill, The Sins of Rachel Cade, The Professionals, The Quick and the Dead, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Deserter, A Gathering of Old Men, Invaders of the Lost Gold, The Cotton Club, The Italian Connection, Scream, The Black Stallion Returns, and Scipio the African.

Born Name

Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode

Nick Name

Woody

Age

He was born on July 25, 1914.

Died

On December 31, 1994, he died of lung cancer at the age of 80 in Glendora, Los Angeles County, California, United States.

Resting Place

Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California, United States

Sun Sign

Leo

Born Place

Los Angeles, California, United States

Nationality

Education

Woody Strode studied at Thomas Jefferson High School (usually referred to as Jefferson High School) located in South East Los Angeles. After that, he attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

In a 1971 interview, he stated, “I got a cultural education—majored in history and education,” adding, “Never used it, but I could walk into the White House with it now.”

Occupation

Actor, Football Player, Wrestler, Author, Martial Artist

Family

• Father – Baylons/Bayliss/Baylous Strode
• Mother – Rosa (Norris)
• Others – George Washington Strodes/Strode (Paternal Grandfather), Lucy Ann Prather/Israel (Paternal Grandmother)

Position

Offensive end

Build

Athletic

Height

6 ft 3 in or 190.5 cm

Weight

93 kg or 205 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Woody Strode dated –

1. Luukialuana Kalaeloa – He married Princess Luukialuana Kalaeloa (also known as Luana Strode) (a distant relative of Liliuokalani who was the last queen of Hawaii) and they remained together until her death in 1980 from Parkinson’s disease. Together, the couple had 2 children – a son named Woodrow Wilson Kalaeloa Strode (a.k.a. Kalai Strode) (December 16, 1946 – November 27, 2014) and a daughter named Junelehua (a.k.a. June) (b. 1948).
2. Barbara Payton – Woody Strode was romantically involved with actor Barbara Payton in the 1950s.
3. Tina Tompson (1982-1994) – When he was 68 years old, Woody Strode tied the knot with Tina Tompson in 1982. She was 35 years old at the time of their marriage and the couple remained together until his death in 1994.

Race / Ethnicity

Black

Woody Strode was of African-American descent.

Hair Color

Black

Eye Color

Dark Brown

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• Often played quiet, dignified men of action
• Towering height

Woody Strode Favorite Things

• Film Of His Own – Sergeant Rutledge (1960)

Source – IMDb

Woody Strode Facts

1. He played football for the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast Professional Football League.
2. As World War II broke out, Woody Strode joined the United States Army Air Corps and spent the war unloading bombs in Guam and the Marianas. He also played on the Army football team at March Field in Riverside, California.
3. He once posed for a n*de portrait which was part of Hubert Stowitts’s noted exhibition of athletic portraits shown at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. However, the inclusion of black and Jewish athletes in the exhibit resulted in the Nazis closing it.
4. He brought to life the character of Draba in the 1960 epic historical drama film Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, and Tony Curtis. For this performance, Woody Strode was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the “Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture” category.
5. In the past, Woody Strode wrote an autobiography titled Goal Dust.
6. He was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1980 and was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 2021.

Featured Image by Hannibale23 / Italian Wikipedia / Public Domain