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Tom Laughlin was a long-time student of the martial art hapkido, and he performed many of his own fighting moves in the movie. But in one particular scene he was forced to use a stunt...
Jan 14, 2007 · Han became a student of Choi, considered one of Korea’s best fighting masters, then entered a Buddhist monastery to further develop his martial arts knowledge.
The film was among the first to introduce martial arts, especially hapkido, to American audiences and contained elements of Jungian psychology, and fictional depictions of American Indian beliefs, depicting a tribe that does not exist, the "Nishnobie".
- Actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, educator
- December 12, 2013 (aged 82), Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.
- 1955–2010
Dec 16, 2013 · Tom Laughlin, a filmmaker who drew a huge following for his movies about the ill-tempered, karate-chopping pacifist Billy Jack, died Thursday at a Thousand Oaks hospital.
Dec 16, 2013 · Tom Laughlin, who invented and played the movie character "Billy Jack" — a half-white, half Native American Vietnam veteran who used martial arts skills to battle racists — died last week.
- Mark Memmott
Dec 19, 2013 · A troubled ex-Green Beret with Native American blood, Billy stomped through the West in a black hat and a denim jacket, confronting injustice and protecting hippies and pacifists from small-town bullies and thuggish sheriffs with his martial arts wizardry.
Tom Laughlin had no martial arts training before he started training for the movie. He studied under a master teacher for six months before filming started.
