Forever Odd Job: A Tribute to Harold Sakata Quiz

Answer: Hawaii

Harold Sakata was born Toshiyuki Sakata on July 1, 1920 in Holualoa, Hawaii. His father Risaburo was born in Japan, while his mother Matsue was a Nisei (Japanese-American). He had six brothers and four sisters.

Answer: weightlifting

Sakata took silver in the Light-heavyweight division (75-82.5 kilograms). The gold went to Stanley Stanczyk, a fellow American from New York.

Answer: Tosh Togo

Tosh comes from his name "Toshiyuki" and Togo refers to the admiral who was a hero of the Japanese-Russian War of 1905. The Great Togo (Kazuo "George" Okamura) was Sakata's partner on several occasions. Tor Kamata (AKA Mr Moto) was one of the first "dirty villain" wrestlers of the 1950s. Duke Keomuka also wrestled during the 1950s.

Sakata started his wrestling career in the Pacific Northwest, fighting in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. In January 1951, he wrestled Gorgeous Gus, the wrestling bear. He would later wrestle all across the United States, as well as Japan and Australia.

Answer: burned by sparks while grabbing a hat

Sakata's right hand and wrist were severely burned during the electrocution scene at Fort Knox. Technicians used fireworks for the sparks, and the scene went wrong. Sakata, a professional, did not let go of the hat until the director yelled "Cut" despite being in great pain.
Sakata often wore the Odd Job hat during the 20 years after "Goldfinger." In 1998, Christies auctioned off the hat for 61,750 Pounds (roughly $100,000).

Answer: Producers saw him wrestling on TV

In 1963, Sakata toured Europe as a wrestler. When he was in London, Bond producers Harry Saltzman and Albert "Cubby" Broccoli saw him on television and decided they liked his look. British wrestler Milton Reid sought the part of Odd Job, and even challenged Sakata to a wrestling match over it. Because Reid's henchman character had been killed at the end of "Doctor No" (1962), Saltzman and Broccoli decided to go with a fresh face and chose Sakata.

Answer: George Lazenby

Sakata played an evil madman named The Pig who sought world domination through the use of a freeze bomb which froze people instantly. Karate star Jim Kelly of "Enter the Dragon" fame played the cop who had to stop the evil scheme; Lazenby played his boss. "Death Dimension" had the immortal tagline: "The one film James Bond himself would go see!"
The 1978 film is also known as "Black Eliminator" (a reference to Kelly), "Freeze Bomb," "Icy Death" and "The Kill Factor."

Answer: William Shatner

Shatner, before his Emmy-winning days on "Boston Legal" (2004) made some very bad films, and "Impulse" was one of them - a remarkably cheesy, hilariously awful shlock festival.
Karate Pete was a conman who was trying to cut in on Shatner's character's territory. The two had a strange conversation in which Shatner's character - Matt Stone confessed to a murder. Sakata then beat him up until he agreed to work with him. Stone later hung Sakata from a hook and beat him like a pinata, before running Karate Pete over with a car in a car wash.

Answer: sharks

"Mako's" IMDB rating of 2.3 puts it in the same territory as "Battlefield Earth" and "Gigli." If more people saw it, it would surely rank among their 100 worst films. "Mako: The Jaws of Death" (1976) was directed by William Grefe, the man who also directed Sakata in "Impulse."
As to the plot, Jaeckel had a psychic connection with sharks, and when people abused his shark friends, he killed them in gruesome ways. That's about it.

Answer: Wong

Joey Heatheron, George Hamilton, Larry Storch -- what could possibly go wrong in another one of the truly great bad films of the '70s? There was ostensibly a plot, but trying to figure it out got in the way of the cheesy fun.
Wong, played by Sakata, was the henchman for a CIA agent played by Billy Barty. (You read that correctly). He abducted several young women during the film, who were taken to a harem of an Arabian sheik.

Answer: I Was a Zombie for the FBI

"I Was a Zombie for the FBI" (1982) was a real film (seriously), but Sakata didn't have a role in it.

"Horror Safari" (1982) was Sakata's last film. It had cannibals, gold and Laura Gemser swimming.
"Goin' Coconuts" (1978) was an adventure comedy with Donny and Marie Osmond. You cannot make this up, you really can't.
In "Zarabanda" (1966), Sakata played the director of a museum. The film was a Bond parody that also starred Daniela Bianchi of "From Russia With Love" (1963).

Answer: Hawaii 50

Sakata was on all of these shows, but the relevant one was "Hawaii-50" (1972).
He was a bodyguard to a man named Shibata.
On "Rockford Files" (1978), he played John Doe, and on "Quincy ME" (1977), he played a character called Sensi.
On "Police Woman" (1978), Sakata was in the episode "The Human Rights of Tiki Kim" in which the LAPD took on the Korean mafia.
Sakata also showed up on "Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo" as a character named Ku Long. The episode? "The Roller Disco Karate Kaper" (1981)

Answer: Gilligan's Island

He played Ramoo in "The Hunter," which aired on January 16, 1967. The episode was a spoof of "The Most Dangerous Game" with Calhoun as the hunter. Gilligan (Bob Denver) was their prey.

Answer: Vicks Formula 44

In the commercial, Sakata had a coughing fit so violent that he demolished a fence, a light post and a fire hydrant - until one teaspoon of Vicks calmed him down. "Extra strength... to control a cough before it goes on a rampage," the commercial stated.

Answer: Johnny Carson

As Carson sat amidst the shattered remains of his set, he simply commented on the cough. Sakata appeared twice on "The Tonight Show", on March 7, 1969 and February 16, 1971. The commercial parody is on "The Best of Carson" collection of DVDs.

Answer: liver cancer

Like many other Hollywood tough guys, it was cancer that killed Sakata. He is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Section III, Site 317.