According to his widow, actress Marilyn Cooper, Sabu had a complete physical just a few days before his death, at which time his doctor told him, "If all my patients were as healthy as you, I'd be out of business." Thus, his sudden death of a heart attack at the age of 39 came as even more of a shock than it would have been otherwise. His last film, Disney's A Tiger Walks (1964), was released posthumously, to good reviews.
Father of Jasmine Sabu and Paul Sabu.
He became an American citizen on January 4, 1944, after which he served in the US Army Air Force during World War II as a tail gunner.
He was 12 years old and cleaning out the stables of a wealthy Indian maharajah when he was spotted by director Robert J. Flaherty, who was in India looking for a lead for his film Elephant Boy (1937).
In the late 1940s and 1950s, he was among the richest stars in Hollywood. In an era in which white actors often played Asian characters, he was respected not only for his physique but also for his natural acting abilities. He was a friend to many Hollywood actors including James Stewart and Ronald Reagan.
Most reference books list his full name as Sabu Dastigir, but research by journalist Philip Liebfried suggests that was his brother's name, and that Sabu's full name was, in fact, Selar Shaik Sabu.
The first Indian actor to make it big in Hollywood. However, he was restricted to stereotypical roles of Indians.