Ed Kenney
Edward Kamanaloha Kenney, Jr. (born August 8, 1933) 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. Now retired, he lives on the island of Kaua‘i and occasionally makes public appearances.
Family
Born in Honolulu on Oahu to a Hawaiian-Chinese mother and a Swedish-Irish father. He is currently married to Judy Bailey and lives on Kauai.
Kenney was married to hula dancer Beverly Noa and is the father of Honolulu restaurateur, Edward Kenney, III , .
Kenney and Noa headlined shows at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Halekulani Hotel for years. They reunited for a Honolulu television show on KGMB-TV in the 1980s.
Stage credits
Broadway
- 13 Daughters as Mana, Prince of Hawai‘i (1961)
- Flower Drum Song as Wan Ta (1958–1960)
- Shangri-La as Rimshi (1956)
Honolulu Community Theater
- Various productions (1950s)
University of Oregon
President William McKinley High School Theater
- 13 Daughters as Chun (late-1980s)
Hawaii Theatre
- 13 Daughters as Kahuna (early-1990s)
Discography
Albums
Solo
- Exotic Sounds of the Spice Island (Columbia, 1960)
- My Hawai‘i (Columbia, 1962) (later reissued with a different cover on a Columbia budget label, Harmony)
- Ed Kenney's Hawaii (ABC/Paramount, 1962) (later reissued with a different cover by Decca, 196?)
- Somewhere in Hawai‘i (Waikiki, 1964)
- Waikiki (Decca, 1966)
- Royal Hawaiian Luau (Decca, 1967)
- An Island (Lehua, 1977)
Included
- Hawaii's Favorite Christmas Songs - Vol 2 (1999)
- Hawaii's Sunset Melodies (1996)
- Hawaii's Golden Treasures (1996)
- Hawaii's Favorite Christmas Songs (1993)
- Flower Drum Song: 1958 Original Broadway Cast (1958)
Singles
- "Numbah One Day of Christmas" the Hawaiian Pidgin version of The Twelve Days of Christmas
Co-wrote this with Eaton "Bob" Magoon, Jr. (13 Daughters composer) and Gordon Phelps.
