Born: 18th July 1930

Died: 24th May 2016 (85 years)

Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk was born in Warrington, Lancashire to Chinese parents who happened to be touring Europe at the time. He was raised in Shanghai until the age of 17 when he left to study in the U.S. After his time in America he toured Europe, like his parents had done 24 years before and soon settled in London. His first film role was in 1947 and he has appeared in two of the top film franchises of the 1960s; James Bond and The Pink Panther. He has played a lot of minor characters of Japanese, Chinese or Vietnamese descent – where other actors felt type cast in these roles Burt’s theory was that if he didn’t play them then someone else would.  Older fans of the small screen will remember him as Camp Leader Yamauchi in Tenko and slightly younger fans may remember him as Entwistle in Last of the Summer Wine or as Harry Hill’s side-kick in his TV series, Harry Hill.

As a supporting actor his top five films include his role as Mr Ling, a Chinese nuclear fission specialist, in Goldfinger – you’d have thought that as his character has a name he would be on screen for a while but not in this case – and Spectre 3 in You Only Live Twice – more screen time with more dialogue but his voice has been dubbed; perhaps this is because he had played Ling in the earlier Bond but if this was the case choose another actor. His most famous big screen role is his third box office hit – Cato Fong, Clouseau’s Chinese manservant in the third instalment of the Pink Panther films, The Return of the Pink Panther. Cato is trained in Martial Arts and as well as being his manservant helps Clouseau be vigilant with his random attacks. The fourth film on his list is another Bond film, Casino Royale, although this is not an official Bond film – it is a parody loosely based on Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel but another role where if you blink you’ll miss him. His fifth film is a reprise of the role of Cato so let’s move onto the next, Kiss of the Dragon. Burt Kwouk appears to be a Chinese Prawn Cracker maker in France but there is more to his character than meets the eye. Unfortunately there isn’t as much as the plot could allow, there is something warm about his character that you get drawn to and then you’re left wanting to see more of him but Jet Li is the hero of this film and for some reason he has to do everything without help. Shame.

It is very difficult to say what my favourite Burt Kwouk film is as he is mainly a support actor or glorified extra (not that I have seen every film he has made but from which I have this is my feeling). So I guess I will say my favourite character (of those I have seen) has to be Cato Fong from the Pink Panther films. Burt Kwouk played Cato in seven films over a period of 29 years. He first appears poking his head round the door of Clouseau’s bedroom in A Shot in the Dark. We do not know who he is or what he is there for, he looks cagey and suspicious – perhaps he is there to kill Clouseau? Then he attacks, a fight ensues until the phone rings and he is composed and ready to do his job as a manservant. The transition between the two sides of his character is very good and this routine becomes a running joke throughout the rest of the films. With Cato being an integral part of the humour I had to question whether the role would be included in the Pink Panther reboots starring Steve Martin. In my house the consensus was that a role like that in the 2000s would be inappropriate. There is no Cato but they do keep the running gag only this time it’s Clouseau‘s surprise attacks on Ponton, the Gendarme assigned to assist him, but the attack is normally a stray punch and its Ponton that always gets the upper hand – to me it’s just not as funny.

Burt Kwouk died of cancer in 2016 after 55 years in the business