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Zulu, of 'Hawaii Five-0,' dies from diabetes
Honolulu Star-Bulletin ^ | May 6, 04 | Tim Ryan and Rod Thompson

Posted on 05/20/2004 2:55:54 PM PDT by churchillbuff

I'm late in posting this, but this is one of my favority shows of all time.

Gilbert Francis Lani Damian Kauhi, known to television viewers worldwide as a "Hawaii Five-0" detective and to friends and fans as Zulu, died Monday at Hilo Medical Center of complications from diabetes. He was 66.

As Detective Kono Kalakaua, Kauhi is remembered for breaking down a door in the opening segment of "Hawaii Five-0." Zulu, a nickname given to him in high school on the Big Island, was also known for his singing voice, wit, independent ways and occasional confrontational manner.

"What a shock, what a truly terrible thing," said fellow entertainer Don Ho. "We were beach boys together growing up. Zulu was probably one of the best canoe strokers of all time; he was incredible."

Soon Zulu will be returned to Waikiki where his ashes will be scattered at sea from a canoe by old friends among Waikiki beachboys.

Niece Laura Kauhi-Leffingwell said that in 1994, Zulu discovered he had high blood pressure. Then diabetes.

"He had open heart surgery four years ago," Kauhi-Leffingwell said. "He was treated for a heart attack a few weeks ago. He's been on kidney dialysis for six years."

He was on a waiting list for a second kidney when he went for dialysis Monday, his mother, Emma Kauhi, said.

During dialysis, his body stopped working, family members said. Doctors took him to the emergency room but could not save him.

Zulu had written instructions that he was under the care of a Honolulu physician who is on vacation until May 24, Kauhi-Leffingwell said. The hospital may not be able to release his body until then, she said. That leaves doubt about when the scattering of ashes will take place.

"I was proud of him," said Emma Kauhi. "He was a good kid and I loved him."

She still calls him "Gil."

His father lost his job as a fireman and the family moved to Honolulu where the father drove a taxi, his mother said.

She wanted Zulu to attend Kamehameha, but he always put her off. His friends were at the public schools. He dropped out of Saint Louis after the 10th grade and joined the U.S. Coast Guard, never returning to school. "He graduated in other ways," she said.

As a boy, Kauhi would go off to school with his hair neatly combed, but when he played football, it would become rumpled, he mother said. Since his classmates had studied the Zulu people, they thought his hair looked African and nicknamed him Zulu.

Zulu, who was fired from "Hawaii Five-0" in 1972 after four seasons, had been a disc jockey for radio station KHVH and a stage comedian when he was hired for the TV show.

On March 31, 1986, a car driven by Zulu struck triathlon athlete Ronny Lee Fennell of Kona while Fennell was riding his bicycle on Queen Kaahumanu Highway.

Niece Kauhi-Leffingwell said, "That was a nightmare for him. Uncle Gilbert goes to church every single Sunday. He's a very strong Catholic."

In 1988, Zulu was sentenced to a year's probation for second-degree negligent homicide in the death.

Midweek columnist Eddie Sherman, who made several appearances on "Hawaii Five-0" and knew Zulu well, said "He had a complicated personality, which hurt him sometimes, I think. He had a great opportunity to be a character actor in films but, at heart, I don't think he was that ambitious. He liked being in Hawaii, being a local boy."

Sherman remembered that Zulu sometimes would fall asleep between film scenes, which "really upset" star Jack Lord.

"They take so much time setting up, some people would read, and Zulu would put his head back, nap and snore," Sherman said. "He wasn't that impressed with Jack. It was like 'Who the hell does he think he is! I'm Zulu.' Zulu thought he was just as important as anyone else on the show."

Big Island rancher Larry Mehau, a relative of Zulu's, noted: "He had the ability to really draw a crowd and fire 'em up. When we did the political rallies, Don (Ho) would use Zulu to get the crowd excited, and then we would bring the governor out. He could make people laugh and had the ability to speak several languages, but whether he understood what he was saying I don't know."

Zulu had a band -- "Zulu and the Seven Sons of Hawaii" -- that performed music in seven languages.

He wasn't afraid to confront someone he thought was misbehaving, Mehau added.

"He was a big burly guy ... always ready for action," he said. "He could handle himself if there was a problem."

Mehau remembered often offering Zulu career and personal advice -- which the entertainer usually failed to follow.

"He could be awkward, annoying, even when he thought he was doing well," Mehau said, laughing. "He meant well even when he was intruding. His heart was so big he didn't know when to stop."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Hawaii
KEYWORDS: fiveo; hawaii; obituary
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To: churchillbuff
One of my favorite jokes...forget who told it.

Kam Fong as Chin Ho? Who knows the difference??? WHy not just use his REAL name?

41 posted on 05/20/2004 4:06:43 PM PDT by Benrand
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To: yarddog
The drummer who played on the title track, John Guerin, passed away recently.

He was on so many records, most notably with Joni Mitchell. A fantastic drummer.

42 posted on 05/20/2004 4:09:38 PM PDT by Benrand
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To: Slicksadick

Thanks. I thought Jack Lord died of Alzheimer's Disease.


43 posted on 05/20/2004 4:19:24 PM PDT by GSWarrior
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To: Incorrigible

This ZULU is white. Sorry to confuse you.

However, the ZULU I picked the name from was the African Tribe.

They didn't take prisoners.


44 posted on 05/20/2004 7:23:15 PM PDT by ZULU
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To: churchillbuff

Ironicly, Last night AMC broadcast "Zulu" with Michael Caine.

Which begs the question prompted by this thread. In a stand up fight between King Shaka's Zulus and King Kamehameha's Hawaiians who would win?

No, I don't have anything better to do - ;)


45 posted on 05/21/2004 7:26:39 AM PDT by GreenLanternCorps (Hit Tagline, Win Suit - Abe Stark)
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To: kyd_ident

May God keep his soul. AMEN


46 posted on 05/21/2004 7:28:37 AM PDT by bmwcyle (<a href="http://www.johnkerry.com/" target="_blank">miserable failure)
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To: skeeter
Mine, too. Best theme music of ALL time.

Enjoy the best high caliber theme music here:

47 posted on 05/21/2004 8:19:43 AM PDT by TC Rider (The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
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To: Slicksadick

RIP, Kono.


48 posted on 05/21/2004 8:28:12 AM PDT by Ciexyz ("FR, best viewed with a budgie on hand"P)
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To: TC Rider

Your link takes me to 'Wild Bills Concealment Holsters'...


49 posted on 05/21/2004 9:21:09 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: skeeter
Your link takes me to 'Wild Bills Concealment Holsters'...

Were your speakers on?

Was the volume turned up?

(BTW, I highly recommend Wild Bill, a local NC vendor, for all of your concealment holster needs)

50 posted on 05/21/2004 11:18:33 AM PDT by TC Rider (The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
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To: MrsEmmaPeel

The Dish is a fine movie.


51 posted on 05/21/2004 11:22:24 AM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: skeeter

Jack Lord was anything but self-absorbed. Where are you doing your research, the tabloids? Jack was not involved in politics and stated in an interview that he wanted to keep out of it. There is no evidence of Leonard Freeman being responsible for the political themes. Freeman wanted them to use contemporary issues as the backdrop for certain stories, that is all.

What is wrong with being conservative? Should they have been touting pro-communist, pro-drug, pro-hippy storylines all the time? I’m sure people would have found fault in that. I can’t imagine any show doing a pro-drug storyline and coming out with positive results. Hippies were just bratty drop-outs and druggies themselves. Only three episodes had storylines about them to begin with.

About this labeling of Jack as self-absorbed: all these stories are coming from tabloids that did nothing but label him, but prove nothing. There is no evidence of Jack being self-absorbed. Reporters who never met him made up those stories. They claimed information came from anonymous sources, which is as good as saying they made it up. There are many stories of Jack’s kindness to people and they are there on the internet for you to read. I have also interviewed people who worked with him, and the stories they tell say nothing about Jack being selfish.


52 posted on 07/03/2013 5:58:41 PM PDT by Vrinda81
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To: yarddog

So you cite one episode as your example of pushing “gun control to the point of being silly”? That was just one episode. There were only two episodes in the show’s 12-year run where they made any statements about gun control. The other was an episode that aired in the 12th season.

Hawaii Five-O was not the only cop show on at the time, and the other cop shows were not indiscriminate in their use of guns, either. Dragnet had some anti-gun episodes, and even Kojak and Ironside had some episodes in the same vein. To pick on Hawaii Five-O for for just one episode pointing out the evils of using a gun and make it look the whole show was about that is misleading and ignorant.


53 posted on 07/03/2013 5:58:41 PM PDT by Vrinda81
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To: skeeter

You were in on the scriptwriting sessions and can verify that Jack didn’t allow anyone to show personality? These guys were following lines written by writers on the mainland who didn’t even visit the set, and they did have directors telling them what to do. The director’s name comes in the credits at the beginning. If they were going to show personality, it had to be in the script in the first place. If it wasn’t that means they weren’t going to do it. Kono had some funny one-liners from time to time. It’s not as though he never got to joke around. This was a cop show, not a sitcom. This nonsense of accusing Jack of not allowing people to show personality, not have more screen time, etc. shows that people don’t know anything about how a TV show is made. One person, least of which an actor who plays the lead role, does not decide everything.

So what if Jack wore a white outfit, white bell bottoms, etc.? That outfit was out of place given that storyline, but that’s not a prime example of him showing personality. He wore that outfit to make the other cast members laugh.


54 posted on 07/03/2013 6:33:15 PM PDT by Vrinda81
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To: Vrinda81
It took you 9 years to get p*ssed off enough to respond?

Look, its just an opinion. I worked with a woman who knew James MacArthur in HI during the shows first few years who spoke about Lord, and she attended several staff events where Lord was present. I've read interviews with most of the original cast. Lord was 1/2 owner of the show and was as niggardly as they come, reportedly.

Finally, I've read interviews with Lord himself.

From this I formed an opinion.

I never spoke to Lord directly, so of course I could be wrong.

55 posted on 07/03/2013 7:01:51 PM PDT by skeeter
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To: skeeter

I didn’t find your post until now. I wasn’t even a member of this site or knew it existed back then. I came across this article while randomly searching this site for something else. There’s no expiration date on responding to a post, and once you post something on the internet, unless the sight locks responses, anyone who reads it in the future can respond. I didn’t know there was some time limit on when a person could respond to your posts.

I know Jack was a partial owner of the show, it was in his contract with CBS long before Hawaii Five-O was even conceived.

When talking about a person’s personality, it’s not about opinion. We can forumlate opinions all we want about things like the quality of a TV show, movie, book, etc, but it when it comes to talking about another human being, that is delicate ground. Jack is dead, but how a person is remembered lives long after they are gone.

Who was this woman and what did she tell you? (You can send me a private message if you like). Just to give you some background: I am working with a woman who is writing Jack’s biography, and she interviewed several people who worked on the show. They all kind things to say about Jack, and said those nasty stories told about him came from lazy crew members who didn’t want to work. No names were mentioned, and some fans and I suspect that the criticism of Jack stemmed from people not knowing that he was a co-producer and co-owner, which was not common knowledge. This is based on comments I’ve read from fans now (2013) who didn’t know that. I even spoke to a man who was a an extra in one episode and he didn’t know till the moment I told him that Jack was a co-producer (this was in 2012).

Niggardly means cheap about spending, or being misery. Jack was very generous in terms of his own money - giving to charities and helping others when they needed it. He was strict about how CBS’s money was spent, because if they went over budget, the show would be canceled and more than 200 people would be out of work.

I’ve found that many of these people who criticized Jack knew nothing about how a TV show is made and expected it to be easy and glamorous. There were certain cast members with whom he had discord, including Zulu, but these people were not angels, and Jack had reason not to get along with them. People only look at what is said about Jack, but not the conduct of people making these claims.

I don’t know what specific interviews you read with Jack, but the ones I read came from AP news articles and interviews he gave with Photoplay and TV Radio Mirror. He came cross as very honest and down-to-earth.

I know a woman who knew Jack the last 14 years of his life and said he was a kind, gentle, generous person. She met many crew members from the show as well. Some were nice and told her about those nasty workers who badmouthed Jack when they were the irresponsible and lazy ones. Some crew members came across - to her - as snobby and self-absorbed. I don’t know who these people are and she would not tell me, so this is her opinion of them. I also know that many of the crew were Teamsters, which tells you everything. Where Teamsters go, trouble follows.

I’ve also come across individuals who claim they either worked on the show, or knew people who did, and said XYZ about Jack, only for me to find out they lied (this is not an accusation against you, but to explain where I am coming from). When I ask these people to explain what they mean, what Jack said and did to them that was untoward, they clam up and say they don’t remember, but they remember to call him names. These stories sound suspicious. It’s gotten to where I don’t know who is telling the truth. Many of these people who work behind the scenes in TV and film are more full of themselves than the actors.


56 posted on 07/05/2013 1:44:00 PM PDT by Vrinda81
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To: skeeter

Thanks for your private message, Skeeter. I can’t respond to you directly through there because FR says my account is too new. To answer your question, we haven’t got a set date for the release of the book. The author still has a lot of research to do and some more information to include. Given that everything has to be documented thoroughly, this will take time. I only joined FR last year, so I wasn’t here in 2004 to respond to you, if I had come across this post then. You can reach me at vrindarao@yahoo.com. There is more I wanted to say, but obviously can’t post it here. Thanks again!


57 posted on 08/10/2013 4:42:51 PM PDT by Vrinda81
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