Kam Fong Chun
Kam Fong Chun (May 1918, Honolulu, –October 18, 2002) was an American actor whose claim to fame was his 1968 to 1978 star performance as Chin Ho Kelly, a police detective on the CBS television network series Hawaii Five-O. Chun was cast in the role after having served for sixteen years in the Honolulu Police Department as a police officer. He was a graduate of President William McKinley High School.
Chun's life was filled with tragedies. His brother burned to death as he was painting the family home and someone had lit a match. Chun watched as his brother get tortured. On June 8, 1944, Chun lost his family in a freak air disaster that devastated their home in Honolulu, Hawaii. Two B-24 bombers collided over the Chun residence, killing wife Esther, four-year old daughter Marilyn and two-year old son son Donald. Chun recalled in an interview, "Everything came crashing down, barely missing Kalakaua School. My wife and children were killed. I lost my family in five minutes. All I wanted to do was die."
Chun later remarried Gladys Lindo in 1949. They later bore a two sons, Dennis and Dickson, and daughters Brenda and Valerie Chun.
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Categories: Chinese American actors