Harold Sakata

Harold Sakata
Birth nameToshiyuki Sakata
Born(1920-07-01)July 1, 1920
Holualoa, Hawaii, U.S.
DiedJuly 29, 1982(1982-07-29) (aged 62)
St. Francis Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Tosh Togo
Tosh Tojo
Harold Sakata
Mr. Sakata
Toska Sakata
Billed height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[2]
Billed weight220 lb (100 kg)[2]
Billed fromHonolulu, Hawaii
Tokyo, Japan
Yokohama, Japan
Osaka, Japan
Trained byTsutao Higami
Ben Sherman
Debutc. 1949[2]
Retiredc. 1975
Olympic medal record
Men's Weightlifting
Representing the  United States
Silver medal – second place 1948 London Light-heavyweight

Toshiyuki Sakata (坂田 敏行, Sakata Toshiyuki, July 1, 1920 – July 29, 1982), better known as Harold Sakata, was an American Olympic weightlifter, professional wrestler, and film actor of Japanese descent. He won a silver medal for the United States at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in weightlifting, and later became a popular professional wrestler under the ring name Tosh Togo, wrestling primarily for various National Wrestling Alliance territories as a tag team with Great Togo. He also wrestled in Japan for the Japanese Wrestling Association between 1955 and 1957. On the basis of his wrestling work, he was cast in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964) as the villain Oddjob, a role he would be closely associated with for the rest of his life.[3]

  1. ^ "Bond's 'Oddjob' Dies of Cancer". Daily Telegraph. July 30, 1982. p. 3.
  2. ^ a b c Montgomery, Shirly. "1950s Wrestlers: Posing And In Action". Photography of Shirley Montgomery & Venue Programs. Archived from the original on July 24, 2003.
  3. ^ "InYo: Harold Sakata: Svinth". ejmas.com. Retrieved September 26, 2020.