List of Celebrity Judoka - Actors and Entertainers

Actors and Entertainers

• Lucille Ball (actress): Ed Parker, the founder of American Kenpo Karate, taught judo to Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance on the I Love Lucy show.

• James Cagney (actor b.1899 d.1986): Cagney was a judo black belt. Cagney performed numerous judo techniques in the film Blood on the Sun.

• Melanie Chisholm (formerly Sporty Spice of the Spice Girls): had to withdraw from her involvement in the TV series The Games in 2003 due to a knee injury sustained in the judo competition against 2002 Miss World Azra Akın.

• George Harris (judo movie star): Harris starred in a feature film tiled "Judo's Gentle Tiger", also known as "The Year of the Gentle Tiger". A forerunner to "The Karate Kid", it was shot in the late 1970s, and was later broadcast as an NBC daytime program. Harris also appeared on talk shows and was twice a guest on "To Tell the Truth". He was a two-time Pan American judo champion, and four-time US National judo champion.

• Brian Jacks (BBC Superstars): achieved national fame for his outstanding "Gym Test" performances on the BBC programme Superstars and made him a household name in England. His victories in the British and European Superstars lead to the creation of the branded computer games: Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge and Brian Jacks Uchi Mata. In 1984 he briefly appeared on the BBC show "Micro Live", where he set up his new Atari 800XL with his family. Jacks was the youngest ever British 8th dan in judo; was an Olympic medallist; and competed in over 3000 tournaments.

• Gene LeBell (stuntman/actor, b.1932): LeBell has worked on over 350 films and TV shows and is commonly known as "the Godfather of Grappling" and "the Toughest Man Alive". In 2002, Gene LeBell was promoted to 10th dan in judo by Jon Bluming in Holland. In February 2005, he was promoted to 9th dan in Traditional Kodokan Judo by the USJJF.

• Chuck Norris (actor): Norris's introduction to martial arts took place in South Korea after enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 1958. He left Korea with a black belt in Tang Soo Do, and a brown belt in judo. In his movies he can often be seen executing O Goshi, Uki Goshi, Seoi Nage, Waki Gatame and Tomoe Nage.

• Peter Sellers (actor/comedian, b.1925 d.1980): Sellers practised judo and was appointed President of the London Judo Society in 1962.

• Valerie Singleton OBE (English television and radio presenter): Singleton started taking judo self-defence classes for women at the Budokwai in London in 2002.

• Bo Svenson (actor): The lead actor of the original Walking Tall movies is a third degree blackbelt in judo. He was also the 1961 Far East Judo Champion in the Heavyweight Division.