Woody Strode

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' (qv) 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' (qv) in _Spartacus (1960)_ (qv)."::Ray Hamel