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Actor Jim Kelly has passed away. He had been suffering from cancer: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/01/showbiz/jim-kelly-death
Kelly became famous through his role as Williams in the 1973 Bruce Lee movie "Enter the dragon", see 01'03" and following:
While one might wonder what this has to do with judo, it was one of those phenomena that in the early 1970s contributed to an explosion of popularity in martial arts in he West, in particular judo and karate. Many people in those years took up judo being inspired by these movies even though they weren't exactly judo movies.
Together with Richard Roundtree ("Shaft") Williams was one of the first African American actors to play the role of a hero in popular action movies, in this way building the path for people such as Wesley Snipes, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Fox, Denzel Washington and others.
Kelly became famous through his role as Williams in the 1973 Bruce Lee movie "Enter the dragon", see 01'03" and following:
While one might wonder what this has to do with judo, it was one of those phenomena that in the early 1970s contributed to an explosion of popularity in martial arts in he West, in particular judo and karate. Many people in those years took up judo being inspired by these movies even though they weren't exactly judo movies.
Together with Richard Roundtree ("Shaft") Williams was one of the first African American actors to play the role of a hero in popular action movies, in this way building the path for people such as Wesley Snipes, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Fox, Denzel Washington and others.
