Harold "Odd Job" Sakata
August 21, 1951 - Honolulu Advertiser
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When researching people who have had legitimate backgrounds in other sports as well as pro wrestling, one name stood out oddly enough, and I wasn’t even aware of his Olympic background until writing this story. The man’s real name is Harold Sakata, known by the public under two names, first being his pro wrestling name of Tosh Togo, and also by his screen name “Oddjob”, as he was a lead villain in the James Bond movie “Goldeneye”.
Born Toshiyuki Sakata on July 1st, 1920, in Holuloa, Hawaii, he moved stateside and started using the moniker “Harold”. While little is known about this time of his life, he is listed as joining the army and being a part of World War II. He got into weighlifting so he could look more like his friends and neighbors, and it quickly turned his life around for the better. Before he knew it, he was actually impressive enough to get a tryout and also make the 1948 Summer Olympics team representing the United States for weighlifting. Sakata won the silver medal that year, lifting 242 pounds in the military press, 336 pounds in the clean and jerk, and 259 pounds in the snatch.
He debuted in professional wrestling a year later, and continued wrestling for 26 years, from 1949 to 1975. Although I could not find who his trainer was, it is speculated to be Al Karasick, an NWA board member from Hawaii. Throughout his professional wrestling career, he held a total of twelve titles, mostly a tag team wrestler, but he did win the heavyweight title in Puerto Rico (WWC) from Jose Miguel Perez during his last active year as a pro wrestler on October 4th, 1975. The names he won tag titles with include fellow Hawaiian King Curtis Iaukea, Great Togo, “Wild” Red Berry, Ike Eakins, and John Smith. Very few matches of him exist on video, although there was one of him against Stan Hansen wrestling in Florida in the early 1970’s. His travels in pro wrestling took him around the world, from Japan and Puerto Rico, and all over the United States, from Portland to Florida to Texas to Los Angeles and elsewhere.
But if you would to show his picture to the average person who was alive in the 1970’s, he would instantly be recognized under one name, “Oddjob”. Movie producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Brocolli were pro wrestling fans, and noticed Sakata one weekend. They were especially impressed by his height and weight (billed at 5’10 and 284 pounds.) After heavy consideration, and weighing in that Sakata had no acting experience whatsoever, along with the other person trying out for the role, British wrestler Milton Reid, it was decided that Sakata would be perfect for the role. He is considered a pop culture icon playing the role in the movie “Goldfinger” which included a famous fight scene inside of Fort Knox, where Sakata’s hand was legit burned during the filming, and rumor has it a karate chop he gave Sean Connery put Connery out of filming the movie for several days. Throughout his career, he would appear in a total of 18 movies, getting more and more comfortable with each movie that he made, and also did a number of television shows as well, including a famous episode of Gilligan’s Island. It should be noted that Arnold Schwarzennegar has credited meeting Sakata as being why he was a huge fan of pro wrestling, as Sakata was the first pro wrestler that he ever met. He also appeared in several commercials as well, sometimes reviving the role of “Oddjob” and also did an episode of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, which is available on YouTube.
Harold Sakata passed away on July 29th, 1982 at the age of 62 from liver cancer. He died in Honolulu, HI. He was only diagnosed six months earlier with the illness. He was buried in Honolulu at the well known “Punchbowl”, and was given full military honors, due to him being in the Army and fighting in World War II.
A big thank you to Fumi Saito for his assistance in this story.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Biography of Harold Sakata.
Author: Roy Lucier.
Published: 2018.
Biography: #192.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Updated: December 3, 2019.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Biography of Harold Sakata.
Author: Roy Lucier.
Published: 2018.
Biography: #192.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Updated: December 3, 2019.