20 Iconic Movie Scenes That Nearly Killed Their Stars
19. Harold Sakata, Goldfinger
Every Bond film that’s come since has aped its swashbuckling action sequences and intriguing plot.
It’s offered some of the great icons of the action film genre, from its villainous title character to the duplicitous femme fatale, Pussy Galore, but one of its more underrated contributions is the silent, hulking henchman, Oddjob.
He was aptly played by professional wrestler Harold Sakata and is considered one of the great evil sidekicks in film history. Sadly, the role very nearly cost Sakata his life.
Sakata drew upon his wrestling skills to develop the role of Oddjob. The character is almost supernaturally strong, able to brush off Bond’s repeated assaults with little difficulty in the film’s climax.
In a typical display of Bond ingenuity, Bond electrocutes Oddjob with a loose wire while the henchman is retrieving his trademark bowler hat. The scene required sparks to blast out of Oddjob’s hand. The sparks gave Sakata terrible burns that required medical attention, but Sakata bore through the pain, holding on to the burning hat for the duration of the take until the director ended the scene.
