The Asian-American actor Kam Fong, best known for his co-starring role as Chin Ho in the original _"Hawaii Five-O" revival as SGT Duke Lukela. Suffering from lung cancer, Kam Fong died on October 18, 2002 in Honolulu. He was 84 years old.
Was a Honolulu police officer from 1946-1962, when he retired and went into business as a real estate agent.
Father of actor Dennis Chun.
Campaigned as a candidate in the 1989 election for Governor of Hawaii.
Kam Fongs birth name was Kam Tong Chun, which meant "golden temple" in Chinese.
His first family died in 1944, after a B-24 bomber crashed onto his home.
Kam Fong was employed as boilermaker at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941. He reported to work just after the attack and stayed there for three days. "I stood over the belly-up minelayer USS Ogalala, the only ship with a Hawaiian captain, and cried. I looked across the bay and saw the battleship USS Arizona burning and I cried," said Fong. He lived in Kalihi during WW II. On 8 June 1944, his first wife and two children were killed when two B-24 Liberators collided and the burning wreckage fell onto the homes of his neighborhood.
Originally auditioned to play Wo Fat in Hawaii Five O, but was cast as Chin Ho Kelly instead.
