Mark Dacascos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mark Dacascos (born February 26, 1964, Honolulu, Hawaii) is an actor and martial arts expert, winning numerous karate and kung fu championships between the age of 9 and 18. [1] He has been featured in many action films such as Only The Strong, Double Dragon, Crying Freeman and Cradle 2 the Grave.
He has also appeared in the short-lived television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven which was a follow-up to the 1994 film The Crow.
His father, Al Dacascos, is a Filipino martial arts instructor of Malay, Spanish, and Chinese ancestry. His mother, Moriko McVey, is of Irish and Japanese ancestry. Dacascos refers to McVey as his "natural mother" and his stepmother, martial artist Malia Bernal, as his "second mother."
Beginning in January 2005, Dacascos has portrayed "the Chairman" on Food Network's Iron Chef America. This role was previously played by Takeshi Kaga in the original Japanese Iron Chef. IMDb previously incorrectly stated that Takeshi Kaga is his uncle on his mother's side. This likely stems from confusion over Dacascos playing the character of the nephew of "Chairman Kaga" in Iron Chef America. The misunderstanding most likely arose due to the fact that "Chairman Kaga" himself is a fictional character, and hence the stated relationship is actually between the two fictional characters. IMDb has since amended their information to correct this inaccuracy.
Dacascos became an actor after being discovered walking down the street in San Francisco's Chinatown by two men working for director Wayne Wang. Though Dacascos' first scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, he has gone on to establish a film and television career mostly playing martial artists.
He is married to actress Julie Condra.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 1990 | Angel Town | Stoner Driver | |
| 1991 | Dead On The Money | TV | |
| 1992 | American Samurai | Kenjiro Sanga | |
| 1993 | Only The Strong | Louis Stevens | |
| 1993 | Roosters | Filipino's Son | |
| 1994 | Dragstrip Girl | Johnny | TV |
| 1994 | Double Dragon | Jimmy Lee | |
| 1995 | Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom | 2nd Lt. Troy Catscratch Carter | Video Game |
| 1995 | Deadly Past | Leo | |
| 1995 | Kickboxer 5 | Matt Reeves | TV |
| 1995 | Crying Freeman | Yo Hinomura/Freeman | |
| 1996 | The Island of Dr. Moreau | Lo-Mai | |
| 1996 | Sabotage | Michael Bishop | |
| 1997 | Sanctuary | Luke Kovak | |
| 1997 | DNA | Dr. Ash Mattley | |
| 1997 | Drive | Toby Wong | |
| 1997 | Deathline / Redline | Merrick | |
| 1998 | Boogie Boy | Jesse | |
| 1998 | The Crow: Stairway to Heaven | Eric Draven | TV Series |
| 1998 | No Code Of Conduct | Paul DeLucca | |
| 1999 | The Base | Maj. John Murphy/Cpl. John Dalton | |
| 2000 | Lei ting zhan jing / China Strike Force | Tony Lau | |
| 2001 | Le Pacte des loups / Brotherhood of the Wolf | Mani | |
| 2001 | Instinct To Kill / The Perfect Husband | J.T. Dillon | |
| 2002 | Scorcher | Ryan Beckett | |
| 2003 | Cradle 2 the Grave | Ling | |
| 2004 | Nomad | Sharish | |
| 2005 | Solar Strike | Lucas Foster | TV |
| 2005 | Iron Chef America | The Chairman | TV |
| 2005 | Only The Brave | Steve Zaki Senzaki | |
| 2006 | Junior Pilot | Kato | |
| 2006 | The Hunt for Eagle One | Lt. Matt Daniels | |
| 2006 | Code Name: The Cleaner | Eric Hauck | |
| 2006 | Alien Agent | Alien Agent |
