Woodrow “Woody” Strode was a multifaceted African American athlete and actor. He began his athletic career playing football at UCLA. He was also able to do wrestling in between seasons. He was able to become a professional football player, but dedicated himself to the war effort during World War II. He still played football, but for fundraising purposes. After the war ended, he focused on becoming a prominent actor. Unfortunately, he was plagued with questions about his race at a time when he was more concerned with earning money. Though he regretted being uninvested in racial issues, he is still regarded as a role model for African Americans who did not have many positive figures to look up to in the media.

Early Life

Woody Strode was in his prime playing college football at UCLA prior to World War II. In 1939, due to economic hardships, Strode gave up his student athlete eligibility to turn to pro-football.[1] He was very athletically gifted, as he also dabbled in wrestling during this time.[2] During his 1941 season, the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. Strode learned of the events in Hawaii as he was playing in a football game.[3]

World War II

Young and able-bodied, Woody was drafted into the United States Army Air Corps.[4] He resumed playing football for the March Field Flyers, which was a service football team out of the March Air Reserve Base, located in Riverside, California.[5] The profits from the Flyers games went to the Army Emergency Relief fund.[6] The A.E.R. fund was responsible for supplying veterans and their families with the funds necessary to uphold their lifestyle.[7] The Flyers were a very successful team, beating teams that were considered pro at the time.[8] As a result, the games were very competitive. Strode claimed that in one game, the team was threatened with deployment overseas if they didn’t pull off a victory.[9]

After the War

After the war, Woody Strode became a successful Hollywood actor. African Americans during the height of Strode’s fame did not receive a diverse casting call, save that of the role of slaves or evil villains. However, the characters that Strode played in Westerns and other genres made him a positive role model to the black community. At the same time, this did not negate the fact that his race was viewed as problematic in the movie industry. There were always issues pertaining to how to portray a black man in prominent movies, but also more invasive glimpses into his personal life, and Strode became tired of it. He was constantly asked about his position on the civil rights movement, and he responded, “Me, I don’t care. If the money is right, I’ll play Mickey Mouse.”[10] Later in his life, he would regret these views and show pride in his ethnic background.[11] Despite this, Strode had a successful movie career spanning almost half a century. He died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Glendale, CA at the age of 80.

Footnotes

[1] United Press, “Strode Turns Football Pro,” San Bernardino Sun, December 27, 1939.

[2] Strode Makes Mat Debut,” Los Angeles Times, February 11, 1940.

[3] James W. Johnson, The Black Bruins : The Remarkable Lives of UCLA's Jackie Robinson, Woody Strode, Tom Bradley, Kenny Washington, and Ray Bartlett (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2017), 129.

[4] Jim Murray, “Best Performance in Changing Sport,” Los Angeles Times, March 26, 1991.

[5] Johnson, 129.

[6] Johnson, 129.

[7] "Director Outlines Chief Aims of Army Emergency Relief,” Los Angeles Times, Nov 08, 1942.

[8] Paul Zimmerman, ”March Field Flyers Edge Pro all-Stars, 14-12." Los Angeles Times, December 28, 1942.

[9] Johnson, 130.

[10] Frank Manchel, "The Man Who Made the Stars Shine Brighter: An Interview with Woody Strode," The Black Scholar 25, no. 2 (1995): 39, http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.cpp.edu/stable/41068566.

[11] Manchel, 39.