Fighting SuperStars Of The '70 - First Class
by jurgenjans | created - 27 May 2021 | updated - 28 May 2021 | PublicKicking & Hitting - Fighting Masters
1. Bruce Lee
Actor | Jing wu men
Bruce Lee remains the greatest icon of martial arts cinema and a key figure of modern popular media. Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream North American and ...
2. Bolo Yeung
Actor | Bloodsport
Bolo Yeung was born in China. He began his martial arts training at the age of 10. Growing up he took an interest in bodybuilding. Later he became know as Chinese Hercules after becoming Mr. Hong Kong bodybuilding champion. He held the title for ten years. Because of his impressively muscular ...
3. Lieh Lo
Actor | Tian xia di yi quan
Born in Indonesia to Cantonese parents, Lo migrated to Hong Kong in his teens, where he attended acting school and in 1962 joined the Shaw Bros. film company. By 1969 he had become the first kungfu superstar, preceding the legendary Bruce Lee. He acted in more than 100 films, usually cast as ...
4. Jeff Cooper
Actor | Circle of Iron
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, George Frederick Cooper attended Prince of Wales School and Central Collegiate. He became a police cadet but eventually headed to Toronto for acting jobs on the CBC. He went to Hollywood and landed contracts with Warner Bros and Universal Studios in the early 1960s. ...
5. David Carradine
Actor | Kill Bill: Vol. 2
David Carradine was born in Hollywood, California, the eldest son of legendary character actor John Carradine, and his wife, Ardanelle Abigail (McCool). He was a member of an acting family that included brothers Keith Carradine and Robert Carradine as well as his daughters Calista Carradine and ...
6. Jackie Chan
Actor | Ngo si seoi
Hong Kong's cheeky, lovable and best-known film star, Jackie Chan endured many years of long, hard work and multiple injuries to establish international success after his start in Hong Kong's manic martial arts cinema industry.
Jackie was born Kong-sang Chan on April 7, 1954, on Hong Kong's famous ...
7. Robert Wall
Actor | Enter the Dragon
Robert Wall was born on August 22, 1939 in San Jose, California, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Enter the Dragon (1973), The Way of the Dragon (1972) and Game of Death (1978). He was married to Lillian Prescott. He died on January 30, 2022 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
8. Chuck Norris
Actor | Walker, Texas Ranger
Chuck Norris is familiar to fans worldwide as the star of action films such as The Hitman (1991), The Delta Force (1986) and Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990). He also starred in Missing in Action (1984) and its sequels, Firewalker (1986) and Sidekicks (1992). He was an executive ...
9. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Actor | Airplane!
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record...
10. Chia-Hui Liu
Actor | Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Chia-Hui Liu was born on August 22, 1951 in Guangdong, China. He is an actor and director, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978). He was previously married to Ma Fei-feng.
11. Fred Williamson
Actor | From Dusk Till Dawn
Former Oakland Raiders/Kansas City Chiefs football star who rose to prominence as one of the first African-American male action stars of the "blaxploitation" genre of the early 1970s, who has since gone on to a long and illustrious career as an actor, director, writer, and producer! Burly, yet ...
12. Charles Bronson
Actor | Death Wish
The archetypal screen tough guy with weatherbeaten features--one film critic described his rugged looks as "a Clark Gable who had been left out in the sun too long"--Charles Bronson was born Charles Buchinsky, one of 15 children of struggling parents in Pennsylvania. His mother, Mary (Valinsky), ...
13. Jim Kelly
Actor | Enter the Dragon
With his funky Afro hairstyle, super cool attitude and superb karate skills, Jim Kelly was instantly identifiable, and one of the top martial arts film stars of the early 1970s. After appearing in a minor film role, Kelly's second screen effort was as one of the invited guests to the deadly Han's ...
14. Kien Shih
Actor | Enter the Dragon
Kien Shih was born on January 1, 1913 in Shígang Village, Panyu, Guangdong, China. He was an actor and production manager, known for Enter the Dragon (1973), Rivals of Kung Fu (1974) and Na Zha nao dong hai (1957). He died on June 3, 2009 in Hong Kong, China.
15. Sylvester Stallone
Actor | Rocky
Sylvester Stallone is an athletically built, dark-haired American actor/screenwriter/director/producer, the movie fans worldwide have been flocking to see Stallone's films for over 40 years, making "Sly" one of Hollywood's biggest-ever box office draws.
Sylvester Stallone was born on July 6, 1946, ...
16. Tao-Liang Tan
Actor | Shao Lin men
Tao-Liang Tan was born in 1947 in Pusan, Korea. He is an actor and producer, known for The Hand of Death (1976), Breathing Fire (1991) and Zhu Jiang da feng bao (1974).
17. Carl Weathers
Actor | Predator
Carl Weathers was born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. A famous and successful football star at San Diego State, he played with the Oakland Raiders and retired from the sport in 1974, in order to give full attention to his goal: to be a real actor.
Weathers first played small parts ...
18. James Tien
Actor | Tang shan da xiong
James Tien was born in Hong Kong, China. He is known for The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972) and Righting Wrongs (1986).
19. Peng Cheng
Stunts | Meng long zheng dong
Peng Cheng is known for Superdragon vs. Superman (1975), Qi quan guai tui qi ba xing (1979) and Xie qi bian (1982).
20. Tomisaburô Wakayama
Actor | Black Rain
Tomisaburô Wakayama was born on September 1, 1929 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor and producer, known for Black Rain (1989), Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972) and Shogun Assassin (1980). He died on April 2, 1992 in Kyoto, Japan.
21. Richard Roundtree
Actor | Shaft
Richard Roundtree shot to fame as the ultra-hip, flamboyantly-dressed -- not to mention charismatic-- private eye John Shaft. The film Shaft (1971) spawned a genre, two sequels and a series. It made Roundtree a household name, and, for a while, one of the hottest box-office stars in Hollywood. As ...
22. Melvin Van Peebles
Actor | The Shining
Melvin Van Peebles was born on August 21, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Shining (1997), Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) and Don't Play Us Cheap (1972). He was married to Maria Marx. He died on September 21, 2021 in Manhattan, New York City, New ...
23. Ying-Chieh Han
Actor | Tang shan da xiong
When Yin-Chieh Han was 3 years old, he moved to Beijing and from 9 to 18 years old joined a Pekin Opera group. In 1946, he went to Shanghai and debuted in the film industry at 19 years old as stuntman that same year. Next year he left the movies temporarily to do martial arts and circus exhibitions...
24. Isaac Hayes
Actor | Escape from New York
Isaac Hayes, the second-born child of Eula and Isaac Hayes Sr., was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a poor family, he grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He dropped out of high school, but later his former high-school teachers to get his diploma, ...
25. Maria Yi
Actress | Tang shan da xiong
Maria Yi is known for The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972) and The Shanghai Killers (1971).
26. Pei-Pei Cheng
Actress | Wo hu cang long
Pei-Pei Cheng was born on December 4, 1946 in Shanghai, China. She is an actress and producer, known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Lilting (2014) and Mulan (2020). She was previously married to Wen-Tung Yuan.
27. Tony Liu
Actor | Meng long guo jiang
Tony Liu was born on February 7, 1952 in Hong Kong. He is an actor and director, known for The Way of the Dragon (1972), The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972).
28. Meiko Kaji
Actress | Shurayukihime
Meiko Kaji was born on March 24, 1947 in the Kanda area of Tokyo, Japan. Following graduation from the Yakumo Academy High School in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan in 1965, Kaji first began acting in films in the mid-1960's under her real name of Masako Ôta. She was given the stage name Meiko Kaji by ...
29. Chia-Hui Liu
Actor | Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Chia-Hui Liu was born on August 22, 1951 in Guangdong, China. He is an actor and director, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978). He was previously married to Ma Fei-feng.
30. Ping Wang
Actress | Tian xia di yi quan
Ping Wang was born on October 1, 1950 in Taiwan. She is an actress, known for Five Fingers of Death (1972), Tiger Killer (1983) and The Singing Killer (1970).
31. Roscoe Orman
Actor | Follow That Bird
Roscoe Orman was born on June 11, 1944 in Bronx, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Follow That Bird (1985), The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999) and Striking Distance (1993). He has been married to Kimberley LaMarque Orman since December 28, 2012.
32. Chuan Chen
Actor | Jing wu men
Chuan Chen is known for Fist of Fury (1972), Police Story (1985) and Lang dao jiang hu (1999).
33. David Chow
Actor | Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
David Chow, a graduate of the University of Southern California where he received an MA in economics, was a member of National Economics Society and was the former "Mr. Hong Kong" and California state judo champion. David Chow later was a television actor, appearing on the popular series "Bonanza."
...
34. Kuei Chang
Music_department | Xiao chou
Kuei Chang was born on November 15, 1951 in Taiwan. He is an actor, known for The Clown (1980), Bruce Lee: The Man, the Myth (1976) and Bruce Lee's Deadly Kung Fu (1977). He has been married to Pei-Chi Yang since May 18, 1987. They have three children.
35. Rudy Ray Moore
Actor | Dolemite
Rudy Ray Moore was born on March 17, 1927 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Dolemite (1975), The Human Tornado (1976) and Disco Godfather (1979). He died on October 19, 2008 in Akron, Ohio, USA.
36. Shin'ichi Chiba
Actor | Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Sonny Chiba was born as Sadao Maeda in Fukuoka, Japan on January 22, 1939. His father was a military test pilot. During his youth, he had an interest in both theater & gymnastics. He was talented enough to make the Japanese Olympic Team until a chronic back injury ended his career. However, he took...
37. Richard Lawson
Actor | For Colored Girls
Richard Lawson was born on March 7, 1947 in Loma Linda, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for For Colored Girls (2010), Poltergeist (1982) and How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998). He has been married to Tina Knowles since April 12, 2015. He was previously married to Denise Gordy.
38. Ron O'Neal
Actor | Red Dawn
Tall, lean, handsome veteran stage and classically trained actor, best known for his iconic role as Youngblood Priest - the long haired, stylishly dressed cocaine dealer who wants to make one last big score so he can retire from the cocaine business, in the seminal 1972 crime drama Super Fly. Son ...
39. Gô Katô
Actor | Kedamono no ken
Gô Katô was born on February 4, 1938 in Osaezaki-cho, Shizuoka, Japan. He was an actor, known for Sword of the Beast (1965), Samurai Rebellion (1967) and Saka no ue no kumo (2009). He died on June 18, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan.
40. Jim Brown
Actor | Mars Attacks!
Often mentioned as the greatest player in NFL history, this ruggedly handsome African American fullback for the Cleveland Browns first appeared on movie screens in the western Rio Conchos (1964), followed by a strong supporting role as convict commando "Jefferson" in the terrific WWII action film ...
Tell Your Friends