Remember Johnny Yu from The Last Dragon? Bruce Leroy’s hilarious student who stood up to Sho’nuff and his goons in the famous “Kiss my Converse” dojo scene. He claimed to have “mastered the art of fighting without knowing how” and described himself as “a medium sized oriental”. I have always wondered what happened to this charismatic young man who seemed to have so much potential as an actor after his breakout debut in The Last Dragon.
The Last Dragon’s Johnny Yu was played by Glen Eaton, after The Last Dragon (1985), he appeared in Penitentiary III(1988) and Trained to Kill (1990). Here’s the trailer for Trained to Kill:
After 1990 Glen Eaton all but disappeared. Until now! 22 years later; we’ve found him! The Fan Tribute to Last Dragon has done it again, first before Twitter and Facebook made it easy, we found Taimak (Bruce Leroy), then we tracked down and got an exclusive interview with Leo O’Brien (Richie Green) and now we’ve found Johnny Yu!
**Update Check out this January 2015 Interview with Glen Eaton. Him & Guest writer Clarke Illmatical talk behind the scenes of The Last Dragon, Martial Arts Entertainment History and much more….
Glean Eaton can be seen in this interesting 2012 short film called Duplicate. Not only does he star in the film but he also co-wrote it with director Michel Pinto. Check it out:
There are also a bunch of other videos directed, written by and/or featuring Glen Eaton on the YouTube Channel PoetryNMotions. Is anybody else as happy as me to see Johnny Yu again? I get really excited about this kind of stuff! In honour of finding him… we just had to do a…
Tribute to The Last Dragon’s Johnny Yu
Here at The Last Dragon Tribute Blog we love to reminisce about this classic film through discussion, quotes, pictures and clips. Here is our tribute to Johnny Yu, the comic relief and unsung hero of The Last Dragon. This Tribute features some of Johnny’s best quotes and clips. First we quote the classic scene then provide a YouTube video or screen capture for your viewing pleasure.
Johnny Yu Describes “The Art of Fighting without Knowing How” to Bruce Leroy:
Leroy: Johnny, what are you doing?
Johnny: Well, you see, Leroy, you know how you’re always teaching us to master the art of fighting without fighting? Well, I did you one better. I mastered the art of fighting without knowing how to fight. You see, people… People are afraid of Oriental dudes. Give them a little move, a little scream, and lots of attitude. Check this out.
Johnny Yu demonstrates some misplaced heroics in the infamous “Kiss My Converse” scene:
Sho’nuff (to Leroy): Yeah, that’s right! Bow, sucker! – Yeah!
Beast: Bow down to your master!
Sho’nuff: Yeah, coolie, kiss my Converse!
Johnny: So sorry. Excuse, please.
Beast: Bow! …. Bow! …. Bow!
Johnny: Enough! You want to fight? You fight me, you big ugly, smelly-breathed sucker! How about you, string bean, Rick-James-lookin’ fool?
Sho’nuff: Beast, kill him!
She said it was nice to meet me?
Johnny bumps into Laura Charles as she tries to convince Leroy to be her bodyguard.
Laura (to Leroy): I want you to be my bodyguard… Have you listened to a thing I’ve said?
Leroy: There is much I must do. I am sorry. I cannot.
Johnny: Hey Leroy! Leroy you.. Whoa, excuse me!
Laura: That’s okay.
Johnny: Say…you’re Laura Charles! Forget it. I will go. Don’t…
Laura: That’s okay.
Johnny: I don’t want to bother you.
Laura: It’s okay, I was just leaving.
Johnny: Leaving?
Laura: Please, just give it some thought, okay?
Johnny: Wow! Laura Charles!
Laura: Just let me know if you change your mind.
Leroy: I said I cannot help you.
Johnny: He can’t help you? Of course he can help you. Look at that, he’s just hot! He’s sick. The boy’s… all that yoga. Hi, my name is Johnny Yu. It’s a pleasure to meet you.
Laura: Hi, Johnny, it’s nice to meet you.
Johnny: She said it was nice to meet me! Laura Charles said it was nice to meet me! She said it was nice…
How about Something in a Medium Sized Oriental?
Angela comes looking for Leroy to warn him that Eddie Arkadian is out to get him but only finds Johnny:
Angela: Mr. Leroy? Are you in here?
Johnny: Sorry, miss, I didn’t mean to scare you that bad.
Angela: That’s all right. Is a Mr. Leroy here?
Johnny: No, he’s not here, but…how about something in a medium-sized Oriental?
Angela: No, thanks. I’m not Jewish.
Watch The Scene:
Thank you to The Last Dragon super fan and editor of the graphic novel Masternever and the Flow of Death, Majid Afayee for sharing Glen Eaton’s short film Duplicate with me. And to Glen Eaton it’s good to see that “you still got it got it Johnny!”
If you liked this article you would probably also appreciate:
- The Art of Fighting: Jan 2015 Interview with Glen Eaton aka Johnny Yu
- Glen Eaton shares Rare Last Dragon Behind The Scenes Photos!
- 7th Heaven & The Harlem Blues: Oct 2011 Interview with Leo O’Brien (The Last Dragon’s Richie Green)
- Where Are They Now: Denise “Vanity” Matthews
- Where Are They Now: Angela Viracco From The Last Dragon
- The Stars of The Last Dragon: Where are they now? From The Last Dragon Tribute
- @TheLastGlow on Twitter
- The Fan Tribute to The Last Dragon on Facebook
I will say – I grew up as a teen in the 1980s. I was in 8th grade when this movie came out. I LOVED Johnny in that movie. He was my fav character. I rewatch this movie all the time… It came out just at the right time in my childhood to always bring back good memories…
Anyway – I have looked online to find out what happened to that actor. I never could really find anything. It’s great to finally find out a little more after all these years 🙂
Thumbs up Glen Eaton
I loved his Character..
Perfect actors for this movie. Main character and side kick. Great combo. I too was lucky enough to be young in the 80’s and see this movie in the theaters when it first came out. This and Big trouble in little china. Fell in love with both movies ever since.
Why this movie is so good is cause it doesnt have all the typical movie stuff..
.
The hero is black , the oriental guy doesnt know karate , the bad guy is white..
.
Also they dont kill any minorities… Its just a awesome movie.
.
Also everyone thinks sho nuff was a bad guy…really all he wanted is to prove his
Fighting skills where the best in the surrounding area..
Ha! Excellent points! 🙂
In the sequal , johnny yu and bruce leeroy have their own dojos.. Then one night when johnny is going home he gets amushed in the alley on the way home and left in a coma.
.
The only evidence left behind is a converse imprint on johnny yus face
Good stuff. Got my interest…
This is awesome! I love that people are as interested as I am in the whereabouts of some of my fave actors from the 70s 80s & 90s. Just watched The Last Dragon this afternoon and wondered what happened to Johnny Yu. Glad he is doing well. In my search I found that Richie Green died almost a year ago. That’s so sad.
Thanks Connor,
Tons of great information about Leo O’Brien (Richie Green) on this site. Including the most in-depth interview you will find anywhere ~> https://www.thelastdragontribute.com/exclusive-interview-with-leo-obrien-where-you-been-richie-green/ and the only place to report on Leo’s actual cause of death~> https://www.thelastdragontribute.com/how-did-leo-obrien-die/
Glen was a joy to have on the film site. Ever the energetic and funny character! Smart and thoughtful.