Al Harrington was born in a traditional Samoan “fale,” or thatched hut, but after his parents divorced he was sent to Hawaii. His Irish-American stepfather told him pidgin was OK for the street but that at home he would speak “proper English.”

Harrington’s “proper English” served him well at Punahou School and Stanford University, where he got a degree in education. He turned down an offer from the NFL and spent two years on a Mormon mission in Samoa, where he became fluent in his ancestral language before returning to Hawaii.

Trying his luck as an entertainer, he became a Waikiki showroom headliner and spent three years as Detective Ben Kokua on the original “Hawaii Five-0.”

In recent years, Harrington, 81, has been an active advocate for education, cultural awareness and civil rights. He will receive the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women’s Association Hawaii Chapter’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday.

JOHN BERGER: Where does your interest in community issues come from?

AL HARRINGTON: I have always felt that I am very fortunate to be part of Hawaii. I was born in a grass shack in American Samoa, but in the process of growing up here I have never underestimated my gratitude for having come here.

JB: What are you most grateful for?

AH: In America it’s more common than not that we get a shot.

I grew up in Halawa Housing and I went to Stanford. A friend of mine (from Halawa) went to Folsom Prison — but we both had a shot.

JB: Why did you leave teaching when you had no guarantees you would make it in show business?

AH: I felt I could make a contribution to the visitor industry and teach them a little about Hawaii.

When someone would ask for “I Want to Go Back to My Little Grass Shack,” I’d say, “I’m going to sing the song for you but I want you to know there’s a lot of us that don’t want to go back to a grass shack. The values that you have acquired, these are the values that we have acquired also.”

Not only were we entertaining but in the process we were dropping tidbits of information.

JB: Do you have a favorite memory of working with Jack Lord and James MacArthur on “Hawaii Five-0”?

AH: James was really a fun person to work with. The normal close to the show is we’re holding the crook and McGarrett (Lord) gives a spiel about “crime doesn’t pay” and then, most of the time, he says, “Book ’em, Danno.”

So one day Jim (who played Danno) says to me, “Let’s create something, you don’t say nothing.” So (McGarrett) busts in the door and gives his spiel and says, “Book ’em, Danno,” and Danno says, “Go book ’em yourself!”

The whole set was astonished, and after the astonishment came the laughter.

JB: What was the foundation of your success in so many endeavours?

AH: My stepfather insisting that I speak “proper English” at home. When I started school at Liholiho Elementary, my teacher, Mrs. Abreu, praised my English every time she called on me, so going to school was always a positive experience. After that I met other people who took the time to say, “You can do it, it’s not impossible.”

“On the Scene” appears weekly in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Sunday Magazine. Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.