- Moe Keale
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Moe Keale Birth name Wilfrid Nalani Keale Born December 3, 1939
Niihau, HawaiiDied April 15, 2002 (aged 62)
Honolulu, HawaiiOccupations Live performer Instruments Ukulele Years active 1958 – 2002 Labels Panini Associated acts Moe Keale & Anuenue, Eddie Kamae's Sons Of Hawai'i Wilfred Nalani "Moe" Keale (December 3, 1939 - April 15, 2002) was a musician of Hawaiian music, ukulele virtuoso, and an American actor. He was uncle to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.
Contents
Career
A native of Hawaii, he primarily had roles in movies and TV series that took place in the islands, including many appearances on Hawaii Five-O, where he had a recurring part as Truck Kealoha in the show's final season. He also appeared as Officer O'Shaughnessy in the Hawaiian-based NBC sitcom, The Brian Keith Show.
He was a beachboy, musician and singer, part-time electrician, radio deejay, as well as an actor.[1] His first paying musical gig with his group the Four K's was at the Waikiki Tavern circa 1958, followed by the Tropical Club in Kailua-Kona. In 1964, he worked with the Puka Puka Otea Tahitian Show at Queen's Surf.[2] He was picked off the beach for a New York City gig doing high dives off a simulated waterfall.[3] His most noted role as Truck on Hawaii Five-O came as a result of his working as an electrician on the set.
One of the few in this century of pure Hawaiian ancestry, his father was a kahuna.[4] Moe Keale was born on the island of Niihau, but raised on Oahu. He was a man shaped by the customs and values of his ancestral birthplace, learning to play the ukulele[5] at the age of four. Conversations in the home were in Hawaiian, and songs were passed from generation to generation of those of Niihau.[6] He would fondly recall his summers on Niihau, where stress was not part of the lifestyle. "I figured that heaven must be something like Niihau,"[3] he would recount.
Moe and Eddie Kamae struck up a musical partnership that led to Moe becoming part of Sons of Hawaii in 1969,[7] and he remained with the group until 1977. He then went on to make three solo albums South Sea Island Magic, Aloha Is A Part of Me, A Part of You, and Imagine.
He was a deejay on KCCN in the 1980s.[1] At the time of his death, he was a hands-on co-owner of the Lomi Shop’s Keiki Wa‘a[8] at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort and Spa at Windward Mall. The Lomi Shop promoted the art of healing through lomilomi (massage).
Moe had a near-fatal heart attack in April 2001, and ended up with a pacemaker implant. He used his extension on life to raise $260,000 for the American Heart Association,[4] in order to have portable defibrillators strategically positioned state-wide.
From 1984 onward, he and his band played two evenings a week poolside at the Sheraton Waikiki. It was while performing at the Sheraton[4] that Moe was struck by his fatal heart attack that ended his life on April 15, 2002.
In 2003, the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts instituted the [9] Moe Keale "Aloha Is" Award.
Discography
- Hawaii's Treasure: Uncle Moe Keale Live in Waikiki CD 0888 (Booklines)
- South Sea Island Magic (2000) CD 2059 (Mountain Apple)
- Imagine (1996) CD 1005 (Ord)
- Aloha Is a Part of Me (1995) CD 6426 (Surfside)
Filmography
- Picture Bride (1994)
Television work
- The Brian Keith Show (1972)
- Sanford and Son (1976)
- Danger in Paradise (1977)
- Big Hawaii (1977)
- Stickin' Together (1978)
- The Islander (1978)
- Pearl (1978)
- The MacKenzies of Paradise (1979)
- The Paradise Connection (1979)
- Hawaii Five-O (1971–1980)
- M Station: Hawaii (1980)
- Charlie's Angels (1980)
- Hawaiian Heat (1984)
- Gidget's Summer Reunion (1985)
- Blood and Orchids (1986)
- Magnum, P.I. (1981–1987)
- Hawaii Five-O (1997)
External links
References
- ^ a b Harada, Wayne; Gordon, Mike. "Entertainers Mourn Moe Keale". Honolulu Advertiser. http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/keale.htm. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ Bernardo, Rosemary (24 April 2002). "His Songs Made Him a Son of Hawaii Forever". Honolulu Star Bulletin. http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/04/24/news/story18.html.
- ^ a b Lindquist, Carl. "Masters of Hawaiian Music: Moe Keale". CD liner notes. http://www.wedey.usanethosting.com/moe.htm. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ a b c "Retrospective: A Mo`olelo, a Story of Moe's Life". http://www.asminor.info/moekeale2020/retrospective.htm. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ "Great Ukulele Players". Brudda Bu's Ukulele Heaven. Archived from the original on 2009-10-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20091028045121/http://www.geocities.com/~ukulele/ukeplayers.html. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ Keale Sr, Moses; Tava, Rerioterai (1990). Niihau: The Traditions of an Hawaiian Island. Mutual Publishing. ISBN 978-0935180800.
- ^ "Hawaiian Music - A Brief History". Surfing for Life. http://www.surfingforlife.com/music.html. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ Nichols, Katherine (5 January 2001). "Lomilomi Shop Plays to Canoe Theme". Honolulu Advertiser. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/2001/Jan/05/15islandlife14.html.
- ^ "Na Hoku Hanohano Award". Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts. http://www.nahokuhanohano.org/cms/index.php?page=Lifetime-awards. Retrieved 20 May 2010. Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts
Categories:- 1939 births
- 2002 deaths
- People from Hawaii
- American television actors
- Native Hawaiian musicians
- Actors from Hawaii
- Native Hawaiian people
- People of Native Hawaiian descent
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