http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=WOODY+STRODE+&btnG=Search

He was one of the first black actors to break from stereotypical "Negro" roles pioneering the pathway for others. Tall, muscular, extremely athletic with a square jaw and handsome face, he played mostly athletic roles at first but proved his abilities at serious drama in "Sergeant Rutledge" (1960) in the title role as Sgt. Braxton Rutledge. He was born Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode July 25, 1914 in Los Angeles, California the son of a brick mason. He grew up near the L.A. Coliseum where he would eventually star on the football gridiron. He was educated at UCLA and later played professional football. Interrupted by World War II, where he fought in the Pacific, he later returned to football and then professional wrestling, but the lure of Hollywood and acting appealed to him and he auditioned for parts. His film debut was in "Sundown" (1941) as a Tribal Policeman, and that led to a series of muscleman type roles: gladiators, athletes, henchmen and the like. Among his film credits are: "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942) as Rochester's Motorcycle Chauffeur; "The Lion Hunters" (1951) as Walu; "City Beneath the Sea" (1953) as Djion; "Demetrius and the Gladiators" (1954) with Victor Mature, as a Gladiator; "The Ten Commandments" (1956) as The King of Ethiopia; "Tarzan's Fight for Life" (1958) with Gordon Scott, as Ramo; "Pork Chop Hill" (1959) as Franklin; "The Last Voyage" (1960) as Hank Lawson; "Spartacus" (1960) probably his best known and most popular role as the Gladiator Draba; "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962) as Pompey; "Tarzan's Three Challenges" (1963) considered one of the best non-Weissmuller Tarzan films, as Khan; "The Professionals" (1966) as Jake Sharp; "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969) a Sergio Leone spaghetti western with Henry Fonda, as Stony; "The Black Stallion Returns" (1983) as Meslar; "The Cotton Club" (1984) as Holmes; "Lust in the Dust" (1985) as Blackman and his last film "The Quick and the Dead" (1995) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Sharon Stone, as Charlie Moonlight. He also worked on films in Europe for a time in the 1970s and 1980s. On TV he was a regular on the series: "Mandrake the Magician" (1954) as Lothar; "The Outside Man" (1977) as Shaker Thompson and "How the West Was Won" (1978) a mini-series, as Arapaho Chief. He appeared in TV movies including: "Breakout" (1970); "Key West" (1973) and "A Gathering of Old Men" (1987). He died of lung cancer on December 31, 1994 in Glendora, California at the age of 80.