# Other Cringeworthy Blackface/Yellowface/Etc. movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 23, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135 "2026-06-23T15:04:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/281 "2026-09-07T15:55:16Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I knew a girl in college who was of 100% Mexican descent, and she had auburn hair, pale skin, and green eyes. Weird roll of the genetic dice, I suppose. Auburn hair, pale skin, and green eyes are the weird roll of the genetic dice. Many Mexicans still have a strong European genetic makeup. They’re not all brown. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/282 "2026-09-07T18:32:02Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I don’t know. Michael Ansara was Syrian-American, and he got cast in all sorts of Native American roles. How hard would it have been to find anyone closer to Native American than someone of Syrian descent? I suspect they didn’t even try. I suspect they didn’t either. MIchael Ansara was TV’s “all-purpose ethnic” He played a lot of American INdiansd and general MIddle Eastern types. He also pl;ayed King Kamehameha (on _I Dream of Jeannie_, of all things), the KLingon Kang on various _Star Trek_ shows, and Quarlo Gobridny, the Soldier from the Future (who knows what ethnicity he was supposed to be) in “Soldier” on the original _Outer Limits_ (and episode written by Harlan Ellison). He’s also played a Sikh and several Spaniards. I think of him as the TV counterpart to Yul Brynner, who was the “go-to ethnic” in the movies. He famously played King Mongkut in _The KIng and I_ (and in the TV series _Anna and the KIng_), but was also Rameses II, several Russians, a Slav, various American Indians, King Solomon, a couple of FRenchmen. And he played an unidentified gunslinger character dressed in black inat least four movies. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/283 "2026-09-07T19:51:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think of him as the TV counterpart to Yul Brynner, who was the “go-to ethnic” in the movies. He famously played King Mongkut in _The KIng and I_ (and in the TV series _Anna and the KIng_), but was also Rameses II, several Russians, a Slav, various American Indians, King Solomon, a couple of FRenchmen. And he played an unidentified gunslinger character dressed in black inat least four movies. Don’t forget his contemporary colleague Anthony Quinn, a Mexican-American who played as many different ethnicities as Brunner. (Mexican, Native American, Arab, Inuit, Greek, Italian, etc.) They both were the leading men when it came to anything “ethnic” in a lead or supporting role in Hollywood at their times. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/284 "2026-09-07T19:58:45Z")
> [@bump](#): > > even if they didn’t go to the trouble to find actual Japanese/Hawaiian actors on Magnum PI/Hawaii 5-0 and just cast James Hong or whoever. Kam Fong Chun played Chin Ho Kelly. Gilbert Francis Lani Damian Kauhi played Kono Kalakaua. “Moe” Keale played Moe “Truck” Kealoha. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/285 "2026-09-07T20:09:37Z")
We happened to watch a Sherlock Holmes film [The Sign of Four](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086310/) from 1983 yesterday - it features an actor in blackface with prosthetic fangs, playing the role of Tonga, the villain’s sidekick. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/286 "2026-09-07T23:27:32Z")
The interesting thing was that neither of her parents or sibling didn’t have auburn hair or green eyes. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > He also played King Kamehameha (on _I Dream of Jeannie_, of all things), That’s actually a bit more understandable, believe it or not. Michael Ansara was married to Barbara Eden during the run of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/287 "2026-10-23T17:50:58Z")
Ansara was on one episode of Babylon 5. Love what the characted inflicted on Londo at the end of the episode. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135.md?page=14)