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Woody Strode, a familiar face in films during the 50s and 60s, dies in California from lung cancer at the age of 80. Originally a star UCLA football player before and after the war, Strode's imposing physicality finds him steady acting work in the 50s with small action roles in films like Demetrius and the Gladiators, The Ten Commandments and Pork Chop Hill before breaking out in 1960 opposite Kirk Douglas in Spartacus. Meatier roles in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Professionals, Shalako and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West quickly follow. After appearing in a succession of largely low-budget B pictures during the 70s and 80s, he ends his career with a small role opposite Russell Crowe and Gene Hackman in The Quick and the Dead which is released two months after his death.
