Josefa Moe
Encyclopedia
Early life
Moe was born "on the road" in Jubbulpore, IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
n father Pulu and Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
/Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...
mother Louisa, then musical stars touring with Felix Mendelssohn’s Hawaiian Serenaders. The Moes were a major force in introducing Hawaiian entertainment to Europe and Asia in the early 1900s. Josefa was also nephew to Pulu’s brothers Tauivi, Fuifui, as well as Tau of the renowned Tau Moe
Tau Moe
Tau Moe was a singer and musician who formed The Tau Moe Family musical troupe which toured the globe for decades.-Biography:...
family.
Education
Josefa was raised in an EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
boarding school while his mother and father performed the world over. In his teen years, Josefa traveled with his folks experiencing great adventures and soaking up all the magic of European vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
from backstage as well as meeting greats like Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
and Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas
Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads and toffs, with the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and catch-phrases such as...
who was a close friend of Pulu Mo'e. Later, in college, Josefa was educated in the fine art of calligraphy. Josefa was also a middleweight Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
boxing champion. When he was out of school, Josefa was roommate with Bond actor Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
. Daily, the two would press their good suits and make the rounds for auditions. After a comedic vaudeville stint in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
with brilliant comedian/impressionist Maurice Sellar and popeyed movie actor Marty Feldman
Marty Feldman
Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman was an English comedy writer, comedian and actor who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show, and Marty, which won two BAFTA awards and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young...
, young Josefa relocated to Honolulu, 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...
(1955) with his father Pulu. There Josefa served as a "beach boy", entertaining elite tourists of the day with song, dance, tours and surfing instruction.
Career
During this time, Josefa carved authentic PolynesiaPolynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
n tiki
Tiki
Tiki refers to large wood and stone carvings of humanoid forms in Central Eastern Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean. The term is also used in Māori mythology where Tiki is the first man, created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond – she seduced him...
and began his career as a Samoan knife dancer perfecting the art of the Nifo Oti (Samoan sword) and spectacular Fire Knife
Fire Knife
The fire knife is a traditional Samoan cultural implement that is used in ceremonial dances. It was originally composed of a machete wrapped in towels on both ends with a portion of the blade exposed in the middle. Tribal performers of fire knife dancing dance while twirling the knife and doing...
dance. It was in this era (1957) that Josefa served in the United States Army at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. During the 50's through early 70's, Josefa performed in Waikiki
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
at Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer, actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.-Early years:The name "Duke" is not a title, but a given name...
's and was a featured knife dancer in the International Market Place's Polynesian Revue as well as the Royal Hawaiian
Royal Hawaiian Hotel
Royal Hawaiian Hotel, also known as the Pink Palace of the Pacific, is a hotel located at 2259 Kalākaua Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. One of the first hotels established in Waikiki, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel is considered one of the flagship hotels in Hawaii tourism...
and Sheraton Hotel's luaus. He performed with Hawaii’s biggest entertainers of the era like Don Ho
Don Ho
Donald Tai Loy "Don" Ho was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:Ho, of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, but he grew up in Kāneohe on the windward side of the island of Oahu...
, Kui Lee
Kui Lee
Kuiokalani Lee was a singer-songwriter, and the 1960s golden boy artist of Hawaii. Lee achieved international fame when Don Ho began performing and recording Lee's compositions, with Ho promoting Lee as the songwriter for a new generation of Hawaiian music.-Biography:Lee was born in Shanghai, China...
, Martin Denny
Martin Denny
Martin Denny was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and...
and Ed Kenney
Ed Kenney
Edward Kamanaloha Kenney, Jr. is a Hawai‘i-born American singer/actor best known for the role of "Wang Ta" in the original Broadway production of Flower Drum Song...
. Josefa was featured in the first authentic Polynesian show with Kimo Lee in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Lexington Hotel. Aside from being a knife dancer, Josefa was a musician singing and playing a variety instruments, specializing in guitar and Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
an bass drum and to'ere
Pate (musical instrument)
A pātē is a Polynesian percussion instrument. It is of the slit drum family, and therefore is also of the idiophone percussion family. It is made from a hollowed-out log, and produces a distinctive and loud sound...
(slotted wooden drum). Josefa was recorded performing with the International Market Place troupe on the popular 1962 album POLYNESIAN POT-POURRI. Josefa performs the Samoan "slap dance" on track 11 - S'au S'au Wale.
For a time, Josefa was considered the most photographed Samoan in the world appearing in Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
magazine, National Geographic and many other periodicals. Josefa toured internationally, bringing his unique style of culture and music to audiences everywhere. As a sometime actor, he was often approached to play local Hawaiian thugs in shows like 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,...
but was relegated to non-speaking roles once his elegant British accent emerged. Josefa was cast in the film James Michener's Hawaii
Hawaii (film)
Hawaii is a 1966 American film directed by George Roy Hill and based on the novel of the same name by James A. Michener. It tells the story of an 1820s Yale University divinity student who, along with his new bride , becomes a Calvinist missionary in the Hawaiian Islands...
, but lost the part when director Fred Zinneman left production causing the film to be delayed and ultimately recast.
Josefa Moe is credited as a "dancer" in the 1959 American film Forbidden Island starring Jon Hall
Jon Hall
Jon Hall was an American film actor.-Biography:Born Charles Felix Locher in Fresno, California, and raised in Tahiti by his father, the Swiss-born actor Felix Locher, he was a nephew of James Norman Hall, one of the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty...
. In addition to entertaining, Josefa owned and operated Academy Art Associates; a commercial art studio and sign shop in Honolulu, Hawaii. Josefa also invented KEPA HAWAIIAN HERITAGE BRACELETTES; Koa wood bracelettes hand-lettered with traditional Hawaiian names. Some also believe that Josefa designed Punchy
Punchy
Punchy may refer to:*Punchy, Hawaiian Punch's mascot*Dementia pugilistica, a neurological disorder which affects some boxers, also called punch-drunk syndrome*Punchy, Somme, a French commune...
, the Hawaiian Punch
Hawaiian Punch
Hawaiian Punch is a brand of fruit punch drinks owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. . It was created in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yates, Ralph Harrison as an ice cream topping in a converted garage in Fullerton, Calif.; customers later discovered that it made an appealing drink when mixed with water...
mascot.
Josefa is known as an originator of free-hand T-shirt airbrushing. Josefa loved nothing more than to set up easel and airbrush on a busy sidewalk in Waikiki to “talk story” while custom painting cartoons and caricatures on T-shirts "while-u-watched." His custom T-shirts were featured in Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine. He was an accomplished muralist and installed his works in Hawaii and all over the country. In the 80’s Josefa teamed up to design restaurants and clubs in the east coast where his brother Lani Moe entertained. Josefa was a fixture at the Kamehameha and Aloha swap meets for decades. After his retirement to Las Vegas, Josefa’s younger sons and daughter continued the successful Hawaiian airbrush tattoo business that Josefa had created in Hawaii.
Death
Josefa Moe died of natural causes November 3, 2006 in Las VegasLas Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. His memorial was held on April 29, 2007 in Waikiki, Hawaii at Queen's Surf beach. His ashes were scattered in the ocean where he taught his children as well as many friends and tourists to swim, surf and appreciate the beauty of Hawaii. Coincidentally, the ashes of friend and fellow entertainer Don Ho
Don Ho
Donald Tai Loy "Don" Ho was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:Ho, of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, but he grew up in Kāneohe on the windward side of the island of Oahu...
were scattered at Queen's Surf beach a week after Josefa's memorial (May 5, 2007).
Josefa Moe is survived by his 11 children: Brian, Joseph, Daniel, Robin, Jaymie, Christopher, Kalani, Taui, Tammy, Kaipo and Cheyne Mo'e.