Tonight's FNatM is by chingchongchinaman.
As sort of a sequel to this FNatM last year, I looked recently at the 2010 New Year's Honours list from the UK (where else?). One name, less famous than Sir Patrick Stewart's, that caught attention was this one:
"Herbert (Bert) [sic] Kwouk, actor, for serv drama."
You may not recognize his name, but if you've seen any of the Inspector Clouseau movies after The Pink Panther, from A Shot in the Dark onwards, you've seen him on film. This is because Burt Kwouk (which is the short first name he actually goes by, hence the [sic]) played Clouseau's servant, Cato (or Kato), who continually attacks Clouseau unexpectedly, whereupon the two wreak havoc on each other, with ancillary damage, such as shown in......
....these clips off YouTube (can't embed, sorry):
(a) The Return of the Pink Panther
(b) The Pink Panther Strikes Again (to make it more off the wall, the video is from the French dubbing)
Kwouk narrated a documentary about Peter Sellers years later, sample clip below
Kwouk speaks briefly about his own career, with a lot of quick shots of selected work here. He also appeared in two of the James Bond films from the Sean Connery era, Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice. (He was also in the 1967 campy version of Casino Royale, which Kwouk calls "half a Bond film appearance", per a link in the next paragraph.) For those who watched a lot of BBC TV imports on PBS, some may remember Kwouk as Captain (later Major) Yamauchi in the WWII female-POW series Tenko, where his camp commandant was relatively sympathetic in its portrayal, not at all a raving monster. (That was his subordinate, Lt. (later Capt.) Sato.) Of course, it helped that the TV show was 35+ years after the end of WWII. Plus, Kwouk isn't Japanese, of course.
More recently, Kwouk provided the voice of a dragon in the children's series for the BBC (i.e. CBBC) Spirit Warriors, which he talks about, as well as recalling the Pink Panther films, here. From reading his filmography, Kwouk seems to have worked steadily, without any real "breakout" part besides being remembered more as the supporting comedy role of Cato. From his Screen Online UK profile, back in the early 1980's, Kwouk acknowledged as much:
"In a 1981 interview, Kwouk conceded that many of the parts he played were little more than racist caricatures. But he defended this, saying 'I look at it this way: if I don't do it, someone else will. So why don't I go in, get some money, and try to elevate it a bit, if I can?'"
Perhaps that's why it took until he reached age 80 to make it to the New Year's Honours list. And no, not very "pure" behavio(u)r, in terms of sociopolitics, but when one is an actor starting out, one takes what one can get. Stephen Bates briefly commented in The Guardian in this article on New Year's Eve that Kwouk received recognition:
"....for helping to pave the way for other actors from the Chinese community."
One such actor, if you pay attention to supporting roles, is Benedict Wong (born 1970, Manchester, UK), whom I first saw in the 2002 film Dirty Pretty Things as a medical resident. I have to admit surprise upon learning that Kwouk himself was born in Manchester, England, back in 1930.
So, a small salute from this side of the pond to Burt Kwouk, OBE. With that, the film forum below is yours, to talk about movies you've recently seen in the theater or otherwise, recommendations, un-recommendations, whatever. Have at it....