Passion for theater inspired ‘Hawaiian Eye’ actor Douglas Mossman

Douglas Kinilau Mossman, one of the first Native Hawaiian actors to make it onto mainstream television, died in Ewa on May 18 of natural causes. He was 88.

Born in Honolulu, Mossman graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 1950 and entered the military, serving six years. After his service, which included action in the Korean War, he followed a childhood passion and studied acting at the school for the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, Calif.

“At Kamehameha he had done theater and acting work there, and even as a youngster he was a huge film buff, from a very young age,” said Mossman’s son, Douglas “Trey” Mossman. “He had an encyclopedia- level knowledge of classic films going back to the ’30s and ’40s. For him to love that as a child and then be in that industry as an adult was a dream come true.”

The Pasadena Playhouse College of Theater Arts was then one of the most prominent theater schools in the country and the training ground for some of the finest actors of the day.

“His classmates in his graduating class were Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman, among a bunch of other very well-known actors that went to do some really big things,” the younger Mossman said. “Dustin was actually a very good friend of his in school at that time.”

In the late 1950s Mossman was working at Warner Bros. when he got word that a new detective drama, set in Hawaii but filmed in Hollywood, was in the offing. According to a 2015 interview in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, he was first hired as a technical adviser for the as-yet unnamed show, and during a brainstorming session show producers came up with a name based on the slang term for detective, “private eye.”

Mossman thought the name was “the stupidest thing I ever heard” and swore he would object to it, but when asked, he voiced support for it because he had just been hired.

“Hawaiian Eye” starred Connie Stevens and Robert Conrad and aired for four seasons from 1959 to 1963. Mossman and Ponciano “Poncie Ponce” Hernandez were two Hawaii-born cast regulars, with Mossman playing a security officer named Moke (produced Mo-kee) and continuing behind the scenes as technical adviser.

“He was able to (tell) the producers of the show, and the writers, ‘Is this a real place? Would this really happen here or there?’” the younger Mossman said.

Mossman eventually returned to Hawaii and had several guest appearances on the original “Hawaii Five-O,” becoming a series regular in 1974 as Detective Frank Kamana on the crime-fighting unit. He also had numerous roles on the original “Magnum, P.I.” and in the early 1970s on the TV series “The Brian Keith Show.”

Other acting gigs would come along if a mainland- based show had a Hawaii- based episode, such as “The Jeffersons,” “Hart to Hart,” “The Love Boat” and “Jake and the Fatman.” His last TV appearance was in 2011 on the reboot of “Hawaii Five-0,” where he portrayed a man who ran a hotel on Maui.

Mossman also capitalized on what his son called “a very outgoing personality” to take other entertainment-related jobs. He worked as a deejay on KCCN and emceed a luau show in Waikiki for more than 20 years. He also appeared on television commercials pitching cars and did charity work for groups such as Easter Seals, the Variety Club of Hawaii and other organizations. He also served as president of the Honolulu Boy Choir, where his son was a member, taking them on a world tour.

“I remember growing up, he always had 10 different things going on all at once,” his son said.

Theatrical work flowed in Mossman’s blood. His family included entertainer Sterling Mossman and the composer Bina Mossman.

In addition to his son, Mossman is survived by his wife of 50 years, Judee, and his daughters Candace Mossman Hattori and Heilee Mossman.

“(Acting) was always a great passion of his, from very young, and then he was able to make that happen, which was pretty unique for a Native Hawaiian back in those days,” his son said. “There were not many people working in Hollywood in those days that came from where he came from.”