Toru Tanaka Charles " Charlie " J . Kalani , Jr . ( January 6 , 1930 – August 22 , 2000 ) was an American professional wrestler , professional boxer , college football player , soldier , actor , and Martial Artist who , in fighting rings , was also known as Professor Toru Tanaka , or simply , Professor Tanaka . Early life . He was born in Honolulu , Hawaii , the son of Charles J . Kalani and Christina Leong Kalani ( who was part Chinese ) . Charlie began studying judo at age nine . At Iolani School ( class of 1949 ) , he was a natural at many sports , and Doris Kalani credited his time on the football team with keeping him away from trouble . " He was a street kid getting into trouble and would have ended up in reform school if Father Kenneth A . Bray hadn ' t helped him out by bringing him to Iolani . He felt Iolani saved him , " she told the " Honolulu Star - Bulletin " . He left Hawaii for Utah ' s Weber Junior College ( now Weber State University ) . On December 6 , 1951 , the Associated Press reported he received honorable mention for playing football at the University of Utah . It was at the University of Utah that he also met his wife Doris in 1952 . On December 3 , 1952 the Associated Press reported Kalani would become a professional boxer . Drafted into the U . S . Army in 1955 , Kalani rose to the rank of sergeant and excelled on the pistol team . For four years , the couple were stationed at a base in Nuremberg , Germany . After Kalani ' s discharge from the service in 1966 , the couple moved to Monterey , California , where he ran a Judo and Danzan - ryu Jujitsu academy with Professor John Chow - Hoon . San Francisco promoter Roy Shire asked him to wrestle in 1967 , but he had to get meaner . " Charlie was almost full - blooded Hawaiian , " said Doris . " In wrestling , Hawaii seemed not as exciting as Japan . He has three children - Cheryle Kalani , Carl Kalani and Karen Kalani Beck . Professional wrestling career . One of the characteristics of Kalani ' s wrestling gimmick was that he threw salt in his opponents ' eyes . Kalani ' s most famous tag team partner was Harry Fujiwara ( better known as Mr . Fuji ) , whom he knew from high school in Hawaii . In his book , " Listen , You Pencil Neck Geeks " , Freddie Blassie explored the relationship between the two " Japanese " heels . Tanaka had a long successful run with the WWWF in the 1960s , including being # 1 contender to champion Bruno Sammartino . In their first Madison Square Garden meeting , Tanaka was disqualified for throwing salt ; was pinned by Sammartino in a rematch 6 months later . Tanaka also main evented the Garden in tag matches , twice with Gorilla Monsoon vs . Sammartino and Spyros Arion ( Tanaka and his partner winning the first via disqualification ; losing the second in a Texas Death Match ) ; a year later with Monsoon against Sammartino and Victor Rivera . Monsoon & Tanaka had other Garden matches , including victories over Al Costello & Dr . Bill Miller ; and Bobo Brazil and Earl Maynard . Tanaka subsequently teamed with Mitsu Arakawa in the WWWF , acquiring the International Tagteam Championship ; losing it at Madison Square Garden to Tony Marino and Victor Rivera . Other media . Professor Tanaka was also featured in a television commercial for a brand of rice in Puerto Rico . His other appearance in a commercial was for Colgate toothpaste with Pat Morita . Tanaka was seen as an extra in a few of David Lee Roth ' s music videos in the mid - 1980s . By the early 1980s , Kalani ' s body could not handle the beatings in the ring any longer , and he moved into the film world on a more permanent basis . His first film was 1981 ' s " An Eye for an Eye " and his last film was 1995 ' s " Hard Justice " . He appeared in Arnold Schwarzenegger ' s " The Running Man " as a sadistic ice skating " Stalker " named Professor Subzero who had over 30 lifetime kills and " " Slices his enemies limb from limb into quivering , bloody sushi " . He also appeared in Chuck Norris ' " Missing in Action 2 : The Beginning " and The Butler in Pee - Wee ' s Big Adventure . " Tanaka was one of three semi - retired professional wrestlers to compete in a tug - of - war match with two other wrestlers teamed up against a large group of children on the Nickelodeon series " Wild and Crazy Kids " in the early 1990s . Personal life . Kalani died of heart failure on August 22 , 2000 . He had a full military funeral .