American actor and martial artist
World renowned Martial Artist, among his achievements:
1982 -- European Kung Fu and Karate Championships -- First Place -- Lightweight -- Brown Belt Division
1982 -- Italian Kung Fu and Karate Championships -- First Place -- Lightweight -- Brown Belt Division
1982 -- Hamburg Karate Championships -- First Place -- Junior Division
1980 -- Hamburg Karate Championships -- First Place -- Junior
1980 -- Long Beach Internationals -- First Place -- Brown Belt Division -- Forms
1973 -- Long Beach Internationals -- First Place -- Pee Wee
His father, Al Dacascos , is a martial arts instructor.
Birth mother is Moriko McVey. Raised by ex-stepmother, Malia Bernal.
Son, with Julie Condra , was born on 31 December 2000 in Oahu, Hawaii. He was named Makoa Dacascos.
Al Dacascos (father) is of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese ancestry; Moriko McVey (mother) is of Irish and Japanese ancestry.
Was considered for the role of Bruce Lee in the movie Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story .
He speaks English, German, basic Mandarin and French.
Special skills: Chinese Kung Fu, basic Capoeira, tumbling, surfing, snow boarding, drums.
Plays "The Chairman", on "Iron Chef America: The Series" on the Food Network, the fictional nephew of Takeshi Kaga, "Chairman Kaga" of the original Japanese series of Iron Chef programs.
Worked for 8 months on the ABC soap "General Hospital" as a police cadet, along with actors Alan Baltes and Jack Wagner.
Trained in Wun Hop Huen Do (Its a combination fist-arts style that derives from Kajukenbo (Karate, Judo Jujitsu, Kenpo, and Chinese & Western Boxing) and Chin Na, Shui Jao, Tai Chi and Capoeira.
Mark was educated at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, where he majored in Chinese and drama.
Wore a wig for his role of "Eric Draven" on the TV series, "The Crow: Stairway to Heaven" .
He met his wife Julie Condra during the shooting of Crying Freeman where they fittingly played a couple falling in love. They have two sons, Makoa and Kapono, and a daughter, Noelani.
He participated in season 9 of "Dancing with the Stars" , partnering with Lacey Schwimmer. They made it to week 7 where Lacey unfortunately got sick, forcing Mark at short notice to dance with a new partner, Anna Trebunskaya , leading to a low score and eventual elimination.
Hometown is Honolulu, Hawaii.
Ex-stepson of martial artist/actress Malia Bernal.
Stepson of Melveen Leed.
(October 2006) Has finished shooting two movies due this year Kshpendiler and Code Name: The Cleaner .
(April 2005) Has finished shooting one movie due this year [ Only the Brave ]; working on another [ Rahan ].
(May 2009) Westlake Village, California
(April 2005) Currently appearing on "Iron Chef America: The Series" as "The Chairman".
[on filming "The Crow"] Things were a bit intense during the filming of,the pilot. There was a lot of pressure on everybody. Several executives,were on the set for the first few days of shooting and here I was still,trying to figure out the physicality of The Crow and of Eric. The cast,and crew were also getting to know each other and trying to jell.
Fortunately we did and, I thought, rather quickly.
They changed the music. They cut out a whole part of the story, which,means that you do not understand the motivations of the characters.
They just put all the action scenes all together, without even thinking,of the coherence. The original version was dealing with a whole story,with a very touching sensitivity.
While I was doing Brotherhood of the Wolf, I had many conversations with,the producer Sammy Hadida, who I worked with on "Only the Strong" and,"Crying Freeman", about a possible sequel to Only the Strong, but he is,very busy and the rights are tied up with a couple of other producers,and Twentieth Century Fox.
