Hawaii Five-0 Actor Dies
Harry Endo, the actor who played a forensic scientist on the long-running TV show “Hawaii Five-0,” died at the age of 87 on Friday afternoon. Family members say he suffered a stroke and died at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Endo was best known as the character “Che Fong.” He was one of the original cast members in 1968, and he was the third and longest-running Che Fong. Two others played him previously. Endo took over the role from “Blind Tiger” onward, taking part in 111 episodes.
Endo’s daughter Leslie Baker says her father was born in Colorado but spent much of his life in Hawaii, where he worked for a local bank. While doing a commercial for the bank, he was approached to play the role of Che Fong. During the “Five-0″ run, he played a bit part in the 1977 pilot “Code Name: Diamond Head” (which also featured Zulu/Kono). After the show ended in 1980, Endo played a few roles in local productions: two episodes of “Magnum P.I.” (1985, 1988); a crossover episode of “Murder, She Wrote” that was filmed here in Hawaii (1986); and a turn in one episode of “Jake and the Fatman” (1990). Endo retired from show business after 1990, but Unko Harry lives on nightly in “Hawaii Five-0″ reruns!
Allen Kimo St. James
Hawaii Kai