Jeananne Crowley ( Tenko’s Nellie Keene) recalls, “I think what mostly surprised Burt when he got cast, was what he suddenly got cast into. Kwouk was actually Chinese, but was felt to fit the bill perfectly.
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With Eiji Kusuhara given the role of Lieutenant Sato and the “half an actor” lacking the professional experience, Tenko’s producer and first director found themselves hunting for actors of other nationalities who might look the part. When Ken Riddington and Pennant Roberts came to cast the Japanese characters in Tenko, they were disappointed to find that only one-and-a-half Japanese actors were registered with Equity. With few Asian actors around, and fewer with the breadth of experience and ability as Burt Kwouk, it is hardly surprising that his career took off and he became so well known. His reply: “They can call me anything they like as long as I get paid and my name is spelt correctly”. After several years of Cato being described as ”my little yellow friend”, Burt was asked whether or not he was buying in to the underlying racism and stereotyping that beset the entertainment industry at the time.
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Alongside his “sinister Oriental” roles in TV series such as The Return of the Saint, Jason King, The Avengers, Danger Man and many others, he gave life to roles that often had little subtlety or depth.
He was later to muse as to whether the Second World War was held specifically for the benefit of his career! From his first film role, alongside Ingrid Bergman in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, onwards through Empire of the Sun and Tenko, Burt played a range of wartime roles. By the early 1980s, he was firmly established in the public consciousness as Inspector Clouseau’s houseboy Cato it was at that time that his career moved in another tangent, and he won the role of Tenko’s Commandant Yamauchi. There was always something different and always something new. Work alongside Harry Hill introduced him to a new audience, and Burt kept on reinventing himself. Burt gained a cult following, with his appearances in James Bond, The Avengers and Doctor Who giving him a nice little earner on the autograph-signing circuit in later years. “They can call me anything they like as long as I get paid and my name is spelt correctly”Ĭarving out a long career playing a variety of Chinese, Japanese and Korean roles, moving from sinister oriental baddies through action-packed slapstick, Burt Kwouk’s instantly recognisable face and voice ensured he was never out of work.
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