Harold Sakata

Harold Sakata, born Toshiyuki Sakata on 1 July 1920 in Holualoa, Hawaii, to Japanese-American parents who worked a Kona coffee farm, was an American Olympic weightlifter, professional wrestler and film actor. He took up weights as a teenager, trained at the all-Asian Nuuanu YMCA in Honolulu, won the Territorial light-heavyweight title in 1941 and the Mr. Hawaii physique title in 1946, and took first place in the 181-pound class at the 1947 USA national championships. At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London he lifted a total of 380 kg in the light-heavyweight division and won the silver medal behind Stanley Stanczyk. He retired from lifting in 1949 and trained as a professional wrestler, becoming a popular villain under the ring name Tosh Togo, often in a tag team with Great Togo, working the National Wrestling Alliance territories and, from 1955 to 1957, the Japanese Wrestling Association, where he mentored Rikidozan. His wrestling fame led to his best known role as the henchman Oddjob in the James Bond film Goldfinger in 1964. He died on 29 July 1982.