Harry Endo
Encyclopedia
Harry Endo was an American
actor best known for his role playing Che Fong, a forensic scientist on the television series Hawaii Five-O
.
Endo was born in Colorado
, but spent most of his life living in Hawaii
. He enlisted on the United States Army
in 1941 and served as a radio operator with an infantry unit in Europe.
He had been working for Territorial Savings Bank in Hawaii and was being filmed in a commercial for his employer when he was approached about an acting role playing "Che Fong" as one of the original cast members in the television series Hawaii Five-O
. The series starred Jack Lord
and James MacArthur
as detectives for a fictional Hawaii state police department and ran from 1968 until 1980, making it the longest running crime show on American television until it was surpassed by Law & Order
in 2003. Actor Doug Mossman, who played the role of detective Frank Kamana on the show, described Endo's role in the program as portraying "the all-encompassing forensic genius, who was supposed to know everything about everything". Fong appeared in 111 episodes of the crime drama from 1968 until 1977, and reprised his role in a 1997 hour-long made-for-television movie.
After the series ended, he played some minor roles, including two episodes of Magnum, P.I.
and appeared in single episodes of both Jake and the Fatman
and Murder, She Wrote
, before retiring from acting in the late 1980s.
Endo died at age 87 on January 9, 2009 of a stroke
at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital on Friday afternoon. He was survived by his wife Myrtle, to whom he had been married for more than 60 years, and two children. Myrtle Endo died in March, 2009 in Brooklyn, NY. She was 85 years old.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor best known for his role playing Che Fong, a forensic scientist on the television series Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
.
Endo was born in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, but spent most of his life living in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. He enlisted on the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1941 and served as a radio operator with an infantry unit in Europe.
He had been working for Territorial Savings Bank in Hawaii and was being filmed in a commercial for his employer when he was approached about an acting role playing "Che Fong" as one of the original cast members in the television series Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
. The series starred Jack Lord
Jack Lord
John Joseph Patrick Ryan , best known by his stage name Jack Lord, was an American television, film, and Broadway actor. He was known for his starring role as Steve McGarrett in the American television program Hawaii Five-O from 1968 to 1980. Lord appeared in feature films earlier in his career,...
and James MacArthur
James MacArthur
James Gordon MacArthur was an American actor best known for the role of Danny "Danno" Williams, the reliable second-in-command of the fictional Hawaiian State Police squad Hawaii Five-O.-Early life:...
as detectives for a fictional Hawaii state police department and ran from 1968 until 1980, making it the longest running crime show on American television until it was surpassed by Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
in 2003. Actor Doug Mossman, who played the role of detective Frank Kamana on the show, described Endo's role in the program as portraying "the all-encompassing forensic genius, who was supposed to know everything about everything". Fong appeared in 111 episodes of the crime drama from 1968 until 1977, and reprised his role in a 1997 hour-long made-for-television movie.
After the series ended, he played some minor roles, including two episodes of Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
and appeared in single episodes of both Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series...
and Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, before retiring from acting in the late 1980s.
Endo died at age 87 on January 9, 2009 of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital on Friday afternoon. He was survived by his wife Myrtle, to whom he had been married for more than 60 years, and two children. Myrtle Endo died in March, 2009 in Brooklyn, NY. She was 85 years old.