Burt Kwouk Biography

Herbert W. "Burt" Kwouk, OBE (18 July 1930 - 24 May 2016) was a British actor, known for his role as Cato (spelled "Kato" in the 1964 release: A Shot in the Dark) in the Pink Panther films, as well as for his many television appearances including his portrayal of Major Yamauchi in the British drama series Tenko and, later, as Entwistle in Last of the Summer Wine.

Early life

Kwouk was born in Warrington, Lancashire, but was brought up in Shanghai until he was 17 years old, when his Chinese parents returned to England. He went to the United States to study and in 1953 graduated from Bowdoin College. The Kwouk family fortune had been lost in the 1949 revolution and in 1954 he came back to Britain, where a girlfriend "nagged [him] into acting".

Career

One of Kwouk's earliest film roles was in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) where he played the leader of a prison revolt who later aids the main character in heroically leading orphans to safety.

He appeared in numerous films and television programmes. He was best known for playing Cato Fong, Inspector Clouseau's manservant. The running gag was that Cato was ordered to attack Clouseau when he least expected it to keep him alert, usually resulting in Clouseau's flat being wrecked. Amid the chaos, the phone would ring and Cato would calmly answer it with "Inspector/Chief Inspector Clouseau's residence," before dutifully handing the phone to his employer and being thumped by Clouseau.

He was a stalwart of several ITC television TV series, such as Danger Man, The Saint and Man of the World, when an oriental character was required. He featured as one of the leads in the short-lived series The Sentimental Agent (1963).

Kwouk appeared in three James Bond films. In Goldfinger (1964) he played Mr. Ling, a Chinese expert in nuclear fission; in the spoof Casino Royale (1967) he played a general and in You Only Live Twice (1967) Kwouk played the part of a Japanese operative of Blofeld credited as Spectre 3. In The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), he appeared with Laurence Olivier and Anthony Quinn. Kwouk also appeared as the honourable but misguided Major Yamauchi in the World War II television drama Tenko (1981-84).

Kwouk featured in many UK television productions that called for a man of Oriental appearance. As a result, he became a familiar face in the United Kingdom and appeared as himself in the Harry Hill Show as well as several of Hill's live tours.

In 2000, he appeared in an episode of the syndicated western TV series Queen of Swords as Master Kiyomasa, an aged Japanese warrior-priest. Sung-Hi Lee played his female pupil, Kami. The episode was filmed at Texas Hollywood, Almeria, Spain.

From 2001 to 2004 he provided voice-overs on the spoof Japanese betting show Banzai and subsequently appeared in adverts for the betting company, Bet365.

From 2002 to the series' end in 2010, he had a regular role in the long-running series Last of the Summer Wine, as Entwistle. His later work also includes voice acting in the audio theatre and video game genres. He provided the voice of the CGI character Shen, a Chinese water dragon, for the groundbreaking BBC TV fantasy drama series Spirit Warriors (2010).

A reference to his appearances in several films with Peter Sellers is found in the opening scene of The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980) where Sellers says to him "your face is familiar."

Personal life

Burt Kwouk married Caroline Tebbs in Wandsworth, Surrey, in the summer of 1961. Their son Christopher was born in 1974. They remained happily married for 55 years, until his death in 2016.

In the 2011 New Year Honours List, Burt Kwouk was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama.

Kwouk died on 24 May 2016, aged 85.

Selected filmography

Film

• Windom's Way (1957), Father Amyam's aide
• The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), Li
• Expresso Bongo (1959), Soho youth
• The Sinister Man (1961), Feng
• The Terror of the Tongs (1961), Ming
• Satan Never Sleeps (1962), Ah Wang
• The War Lover (1962), Chung - Radio Operator on B-17
• Goldfinger (1964), Mr Ling
• A Shot in the Dark (1964), Cato - Clouseau's man-servant
• Curse of the Fly (1965), Tai
• Our Man in Marrakesh (1966), The Import Manager
• The Sandwich Man (1966), Ice Cream Man
• Lost Command (1966), Officer
• The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966), Feng
• You Only Live Twice (1967), Spectre 3
• Casino Royale (1967), Chinese general
• The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Peng
• Nobody Runs Forever (1968), Pham Chimh
• The Chairman (1969), Chang Shou
• Deep End (1970), Hot Dog salesman
• Girls Come First (1975), Sashimi
• The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Cato
• Rollerball (1975), Japanese doctor
• The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), Cato
• The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977), Father Shapiro
• Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978), Cato
• The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980), A servant
• Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), Cato
• Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), Cato
• Empire of the Sun (1987), Mr Chen
• I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (1990), Fu King Owner
• Air America (1990), General Lu Soong
• Leon the Pig Farmer (1992), Art Collector,
• Carry On Columbus (1992) Wang
• Son of the Pink Panther (1993), Cato
• Peggy Su! (1998), Dad
• Kiss of the Dragon (2001), Uncle Tai
• Beyond Borders (2003), Colonel Gao

TV

• Hancock's Half Hour: "How to Win Money and Influence People" (1957) 1st Japanese (credited as Burd Kwok)
• Danger Man
• Man of the World
• The Sentimental Agent: TV Series (1963) Chin
• The Avengers
• The Saint
• The Champions: "The Beginning" (1967) Chinese Major
• Shirley's World: "A Hell of an Engineer" (1972) Shunji
• Lucky Feller (1976) Chinese waiter
• Warship (1977) Foreign Minister Zee Khay Lim
• The Water Margin: (1977) Narrator (English dub)
• It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1977-1978), Me Thant
• The Tomorrow People (TV series): "The Lost Gods" (1978)
• Monkey Magic (1978-1979),Narrator (English dub)
• Shoestring (1980) Mr Wing
• Minder (1980), Sojo
• Tenko (1981), Major Yamauchi
• Doctor Who: "Four to Doomsday" (1982), Lin Futu
• Tickle on the Tum (1984), Willie Wok
• Howards' Way (1987), Mr Lee
• Noble House (1988), Phillip Chen
• The House of Eliott (1991), Peter Lo Ching
• Lovejoy (1993): "The Peking Gun"
• Space Precinct (1994): "Protect and Survive", Slik Ostrasky
• The Harry Hill Show (1997-2000)
• Queen of Swords: "The Dragon" (2001), Master Kiyomassa
• Banzai (2001-2004), voice-over
• Last of the Summer Wine (2002-2010), Entwistle
• Judge John Deed(2005): "Separation of Powers"
• Silent Witness (2006): "Cargo"
• Honest (2008), Mr Hong
• Spirit Warriors (2009), Shen
• Whatever Happened to Harry Hill (2012)

Audio theatre

• Doctor Who: Loups-Garoux (2001), Doctor Hayashi

Video games

• Fire Warrior (2003), El'Lusha
• EyeToy: Play (2003), Announcer

Miscellaneous

• Film trailer - Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974), Asian Voiceover Announcer
• A 17-minute interview with Burt Kwouk from 2010 about his appearances in ITC shows is featured on the Network DVD The Sentimental Agent.