Robert Wall, 9th Deg Black Belt 'Enter The Dragon' Actor Dead At 82 ... Worked w/ Bruce Lee & Chuck Norris
He was not on list.
Tang Soo Do master Robert Wall, who trained with and acted alongside Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee in some of the greatest martial arts films of all time has died at the age of 82 ... TMZ Sports has learned.
Wall was a 9th degree Tang Soo Do black belt under Norris ... who is credited with bringing the discipline to the West. The men trained together for many years ... and were business partners.
In addition to being a martial arts master, Wall also played important roles on the silver screen.
Robert appeared in 1972s "Way of the Dragon" and 1973s "Enter the Dragon" -- both starring Lee, the most well-renowned martial artist to ever live.
Wall and Lee had a memorable and very real (albeit one-sided) fight in "Enter the Dragon."
In fact, years after they filmed the fight scene, Bob revealed Lee actually broke his ribs.
"Bob, I wanna hit you, and I wanna hit you hard," Wall revealed Lee told him prior to filming.
The reason ... Bruce -- who'd known Wall for 8 years before filming the movie -- wanted the fight to look as authentic as possible, so the two masters went full-speed.
Wall's family sent us the following statement on Robert's passing.
"Bob was the greatest husband and father. Family was Everything to him. He lived a remarkable life & There is a hole in our hearts that will never be filled. His spirit & legacy will live on forever within us. He was our rock."
Wall was a 9th degree black belt under Chuck Norris and the co-founder and CEO of a martial arts organization known as World Black Belt Inc. In 1975, Wall authored the book Who's Who in the Martial Arts and Directory of Black Belts (Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 75-2280), the first book of its kind for martial artists.
Wall was particularly famous for his public rivalry with Steven Seagal, which provoked a series of challenges between the two between 1988 and 1992. It started when Seagal made disparaging commentaries about Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and other American martial artists in interviews, culminating in two articles in the Black Belt magazine where he claimed he would fight to the death anybody who believed they could defeat him.
Indignant at Seagal's slights of Lee and American martial artists, as well as offended by his boasts, Wall gathered a group of martial artists willing to answer the challenge, who were nicknamed the "Dirty Dozen" in a reference to the 1967 war film The Dirty Dozen. The group included Benny Urquidez, Bill Wallace, Howard Jackson, Roger Carpenter, Allen Steen, Jim Harrison, Dennis Alexio, Richard Norton, Billy Robertson, Pat Burleson and William "Blinky" Rodriguez, with Gene LeBell and Gerard Finot as potential members and Karyn Turner as a possible promoter for one or more matches.
Rest in peace.
Filmography
Films
Year Title Role Notes
1972 Way of the Dragon Tom/Fred While the film refers to his character as Tom, the end credits name his character as Fred.
1973 Enter the Dragon O'Hara
1974 Black Belt Jones Mob Henchmen Uncredited
1978 Game of Death Carl Miller
1981 Enter the Ninja Thug Uncredited
1985 Code of Silence Thug Uncredited
1985 Invasion U.S.A. Vince Uncredited
1986 Firewalker Jose
1988 Hero and the Terror Wall
1992 Sidekicks Bob Wall
2004 Sci-Fighter Las Vegas announcer
2009 Blood and Bone O'Hara
2018 Anatomy of An Antihero 3 Master Bob
2020 The Search for Count Dante
2020 Anatomy of an Antihero: Redemption Master Wall
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