The Tragic Death Of Hawaii Five-0 Actor Al Harrington

Actor Al Harrington, who was best known as Detective Ben Kokua in the original "Hawaii Five-0" and later as Mamo Kahike in the "Hawaii Five-0" reboot, died on September 21 after suffering a stroke, per the NY Post. He also appeared in episodes of "Charlie's Angels," "The Jeffersons," and "Magnum P.I.," plus he had a part in "Forrest Gump," per IMDb, but Harrington's acting credits only tell a portion of his amazing story.

The Hawaiian actor, who was originally from Samoa, was a standout on the football field and was offered a spot on the Baltimore Colts after an outstanding career at Stanford, but he opted to go on a Mormon mission instead, per the Star-Advertiser. Harrington returned to Hawaii and became a history teacher while working at a luau part-time. "My wife (at that time) and I were going to have twins and I didn't even have enough money to pay the hospital bill where they were born," Harrington recalled to Generations Magazine in 2013. A casting director for "Hawaii Five-0" was in the crowd during one of Harrington's luaus, and that was how he landed the role.

When "Hawaii Five-0" was rebooted, Harrington was brought on in an entirely different role. The main concern for the actor was how Hawaii was portrayed on screen. "The original show was really good for Hawaii. The success of the new show will affect us as well," he told Deseret News in 2010. Keep reading to find out more about Harrington's impact.

After leaving the original "Hawaii Five-0," Al Harrington became a headliner at a Waikiki showroom where he performed "The Al Harrington Show," per the Star-Advertiser. He would visit each table before performing to learn more about his audience, and along with entertaining them, the actor would try to impart knowledge about Hawaii's history. "I've always considered myself an educator, first and foremost," the former history teacher told Generations in 2013. 

That said, Harrington had to walk a fine line between catering to tourists and entertaining native Hawaiians. "What you do for visitors would be condescending for locals; so you're always trying to hit the right combination of localism and nationalism," he told the Star-Bulletin.

In 1996, Harrington was cast in the lead role of a "radical reworking" of "Othello” which came as a surprise to the actor. "Did I have the range? I hadn't done any acting on stage since 'HMS Pinafore' in high school," he told the Star-Bulletin at the time. In 2018, Harrington was the recipient of the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award, per the Star-Advertiser. This highlighted the performer's eclectic career. "I can hardly say the words that are in my heart in terms of gratitude," he told the Star-Advertiser. "The thing I'm most proud of is the way I was able to pitch Hawaii. Cause I have a great love for Hawaii," Harrington added.