Author: Wayne Harada

You only live once, and perhaps now is the time of your life to make a point and make a difference.

How about Lifetime Tickets to The Actors’ Group?

TAG has made that option possible, with different prices for difference ages. No matter if you’re a TAG newbie or a TAG patron for decades. Remember the Yellow Brick Studio era?

Here are the options:

• $1,000 per person if you’re 65 years and older.
• $1,500 per person if you’re between 40 to 64 years old.
• $2,000 per person if you’re under 40 years old.

Think about the convenience of not having to purchase a ticket for the rest of your life. Whatever your price/age entry level, you’ll be part of the TAG family for life.

Since TAG’s playhouse, the Brad Powell Theatre at Dole Cannery, has limited seating, betcha you’ll get priority dibs for seats when you need ‘em.

Lifetime tickets are not transferrable, for obvious reasons. Your name will be on your tickets till you die so this is something you can take to heaven. And like life, this is a limited -time offer and will, um, terminate .

Order online at: https://www.taghawaii.net/lifetime-tickets

Harrington’s last role

We haven’t seen ’em yet, but while Al Harrington is gone — the actor-entertainer died Sept. 21 — his last acting gig is yet to be seen.

“I wanted you to know that Al Harrington’s last role was in ‘Doogie Kamealoha, MD,'” according to consulting producer Chris Lee, of the Hawai’i-based comedy now streaming via Disney+. Harrington plays Jason Scott Lee’s uncle “and has some very moving episodes later in the season. It was an honor to have him on the show,” said Lee (no relation to the actor). Harrington portrays Uncle John and we all should anticipate these appearances. …

Channel hopping

While the world wrestles with coronavirus and the delta variant, Daniel Dae Kim (does he still live in Hawai’i, when he’s not working?) soon will be seen battling anthrax threats in “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” part of National Geographic’s anthology based on factual incidents.

In this one, Kim portrays an FBI agent named Matthew Ryker, said to be a composite of several agents, who investigates post 9/11 issues with anthrax-laced letters to media and politicos following the terrorism and the toppling of the World Trade Center Twin Towers. His partner in crime fighting is Tony Goldwyn, playing Dr. Bruce Ivins, an actual microbiologist whose work involved analyzing the deadly mailings.

Good to know that Kim, one of the pillars of ABC’s “Lost” and CBS’s “Hawaii Five-0” reboot, misses us in the islands. You see, “Anthrax” filmed in Canada during the pandemic crisis, and as he told Entertainment Weekly, “The Toronto winter, combined with a strict lockdown, made it one of the most challenging on-location experiences I’ve ever had. It certainly wasn’t Hawai’i.” Atta boy; Hawai’i no ka oi. …

The series bows Nov. 28 and a preview now is airing. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

Rosa Navarro Harrington, widow of entertainer Al Harrrington who died Tuesday (Sept. 21), has issued a compassionate statement about her loss, saying “he was my regal Polynesian King.”

She was at his side when he died at age 85. Harrington earlier suffered a stroke.

Her statement, released today (Sept. 22), reflects how inseparable the couple was.

“I have had the honor of loving Al, whom I called ‘Harrington’ for 20-years,” she said.

“We were an inseparable team; best friends and he was my regal Polynesian King. Al embodied the purest, life-giving values of aloha and began each day with a smile.”
She described their routine: “We were early risers, and long before the sun would appear over Manoa Valley’s Ko‘olau Mountain Range, Al would have already thanked me for creating our humble yet adventurous life together in the islands. Oh how he loved Hawai’i and would remark on its beauty throughout the day…from one holoholo to the next, like a never ending swell of gratitude within him.” 

To know him was to love him, said Rosa.

“Al was truly a gift from God. A noble, compassionate, patient and gentle man with a witty sense of humor and a larger-than-life laugh that will echo in my heart until we are reunited. He was generous, quick to forgive, a hard worker, a provider and always ready to talk-story. He loved his community and even more, his culture. It was his greatest honor to represent his people on-screen, and to serve them off-screen. To know him was to feel seen, loved, safe and welcomed. As an Icon for Hawai’i, our islands and her people are mourning his loss.” 

And she offered her mahalo for his giving ways. “Harrington, it’s my turn to thank you, for inviting me along the most extraordinary ride of life! I promise to rise each morning with gratitude, and to honor your legacy by living each day to its fullest with a commitment to health and vitality.”

A Punahou football star as a student, Harrington returned to campus as a school teacher, though show business became his ultimate profession.

His stint playing Ben Kokua on the original Jack Lord-starring “Hawaii Five-0” from 1968 to 1980), enabled him to become the South Pacific Man, starring in a Polynesian revue in Waikiki. The acting gig helped buoy his nightclub stint, the last of the locals hired to play a recurring role on a network (CBS) TV, dissolving the general prevailing assumption among casting directors who felt Hawaii didn’t have the talent to succeed in co-starring roles.

As Harrington 2.0, he appeared in another wholly locally-produced “Doogie Kamealoha MD,” portraying Uncle John, in the current Disney+ series now streaming.

He also played Mamo Kahike in the Alex O’Loughlin reboot of “Five-0.”

He made his network TV debut on “To Tell the Truth,” viewable on YouTube, in which he played himself with two other imposters, with a panel of judges trying to name the real Al Harrington. The real dude also demonstrated that he could twirl a knife in a common Samoan staple in visitor productions here. In fact, he was a fire knife dancer before he starred in his own revue here.

He had a string of guest roles in a range of other TV series and logged a roster of film roles that didn’t utilize the depth of his talent.

Harrington’s agent, Gregory David Mayor, also offered a reaction to the actor’s passing.“It has been my utmost pleasure to have served as Al Harrington’s theatrical agent for many years.  More importantly, Al became a close friend and mentor to me in my own career and life,” he said. “ Al uplifted me to find my faith again….and for that alone, I am truly grateful. Admiration, respect, humor, peace, and joy are those attributes that one can ascribe to Al Harrington. Truly a special child of God.”

Besides his wife, Harrington is survived by sons Alema and Tau, daughters Cassi Harrington Palmer and Summer Harrington and several grandchildren.

Services have not been announced. …

And that’s Show Biz. …