Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Kwan Hi Lim 1922-2008

Kwan Hi Lim was a lawyer by trade. From Korean ancestry, born in Maui, Hawaii, he attended Boston Law College in 1947 and later Duke University. But from about 1970 through 1992, he appeared in many films and television shows filmed on the islands. He was Lt. Tanaka on Magnum, P.I. some 30 times; and he appeared in at least 25 episodes of Hawaii Five-O over a 10+ year period, almost always as a villain. A small, distinguished looking man with white hair, in his later years he was an elected Judge. Lim could play deadly serious, but also had a flair for comedy. The photo at the right shows Mr. Lim in retirement at the age of 82 in 2004. We learned of his death at 86 from a notice in the SAG magazine, Screen Actor. He passed away in Hawaii back on December 22, 2008.