| Moe Keale | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Wilfrid Nalani Keale |
| Born | December 3, 1939 Niihau, Hawaii |
| Died | April 15, 2002 (aged 62) Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Occupations | Live performer |
| Instruments | Ukulele |
| Years active | 1958 – 2002 |
| Labels | Panini |
| Associated acts | Moe Keale & Anuenue, Eddie Kamae's Sons Of Hawai'i |
Wilfred Nalani "Moe" Keale (December 3, 1939 - April 15, 2002) was a musician of Hawaiian music, ukulele virtuoso, and an American actor. He was uncle to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.
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A native of Hawaii, he primarily had roles in movies and TV series that took place in the islands, including many appearances on Hawaii Five-O, where he had a recurring part as Truck Kealoha in the show's final season. He also appeared as Officer O'Shaughnessy in the Hawaiian-based NBC sitcom, The Brian Keith Show.
He was a beachboy, musician and singer, part-time electrician, radio deejay, as well as an actor.[1] His first paying musical gig with his group the Four K's was at the Waikiki Tavern circa 1958, followed by the Tropical Club in Kailua-Kona. In 1964, he worked with the Puka Puka Otea Tahitian Show at Queen's Surf.[2] He was picked off the beach for a New York City gig doing high dives off a simulated waterfall.[3] His most noted role as Truck on Hawaii Five-O came as a result of his working as an electrician on the set.
One of the few in this century of pure Hawaiian ancestry, his father was a kahuna.[4] Moe Keale was born on the island of Niihau, but raised on Oahu. He was a man shaped by the customs and values of his ancestral birthplace, learning to play the ukulele[5] at the age of four. Conversations in the home were in Hawaiian, and songs were passed from generation to generation of those of Niihau.[6] He would fondly recall his summers on Niihau, where stress was not part of the lifestyle. "I figured that heaven must be something like Niihau,"[3] he would recount.
Moe and Eddie Kamae struck up a musical partnership that led to Moe becoming part of Sons of Hawaii in 1969,[7] and he remained with the group until 1977. He then went on to make three solo albums South Sea Island Magic, Aloha Is A Part of Me, A Part of You, and Imagine.
He was a deejay on KCCN in the 1980s.[1] At the time of his death, he was a hands-on co-owner of the Lomi Shop’s Keiki Wa‘a[8] at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort and Spa at Windward Mall. The Lomi Shop promoted the art of healing through lomilomi (massage).
Moe had a near-fatal heart attack in April 2001, and ended up with a pacemaker implant. He used his extension on life to raise $260,000 for the American Heart Association,[4] in order to have portable defibrillators strategically positioned state-wide.
From 1984 onward, he and his band played two evenings a week poolside at the Sheraton Waikiki. It was while performing at the Sheraton[4] that Moe was struck by his fatal heart attack that ended his life on April 15, 2002.
In 2003, the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts instituted the [9] Moe Keale "Aloha Is" Award.