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Mark Dacascos
Mark Dacascos in 2011
Born	Mark Alan Dacascos (1964-02-26) February 26, 1964 (age 49) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Other names	Marc Dacascos The Chairman
Occupation	Actor, martial artist, television personality
Years active	1985–present
Influenced by	Al Dacascos[citation needed] Jet Li[citation needed] Bruce Lee[citation needed]
Spouse(s)	Julie Condra (1998–present)
Website
www.dacascos.com

Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) is an American actor and martial artist.^[1] He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18.^[2]

Beginning in January 2005, Dacascos has portrayed the Chairman on Food Network's television series Iron Chef America. This role was previously played by Takeshi Kaga in the original Japanese Iron Chef, and Dacascos' character is presented as Kaga's nephew, though the actors are not related. Some of his other roles include the recurring character of Wo Fat in the CBS series Hawaii Five-0, Kung Lao in the Kevin Tancharoen web-series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, Eric Draven in The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Eubulon, the Advent Master, on Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, the role of "Mani" in the French film Brotherhood of the Wolf and the lead role of "Crying Freeman" in the film of the same name.

Dacascos competed in season 9 of Dancing with the Stars.^[3][4]

Biography [edit]

Dacascos' father, Al Dacascos, is from Hawaii, and is a martial arts instructor of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese ancestry. His mother, Moriko McVey-Murray, is of Irish and Japanese ancestry. In the History Channel presentation, "Samurai", he revealed that many of the Japanese side of his mother's family were killed in the bombing of Hiroshima. His stepmother, award winning martial artist, Malia Bernal, raised him. Dacascos attended Los Angeles Valley College and was on their 1983-1984 Gymnastics Team coached by Gary Honjio. He also attended Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Dacascos is proficient in his father's style of Martial Art, Wun Hop Kuen Do. He has studied Muay Thai with Kru Puk, Capoeira with Mestre Amen Santo, and Wushu with Coaches Eric and Debbie Chen, though he self-admittedly is still very much a beginner/intermediate student in those arts.^[5]

Personal life [edit]

He is married to actress Julie Condra, who starred with him in Crying Freeman. They have three children, two older boys and one younger girl. Their names are Makoa, Kapono and Noelani.

Career [edit]

Dacascos became an actor after being discovered walking down the street in San Francisco's Chinatown by Chris Lee (at that time, assistant director) and Rexall Chin (hairstylist) for director Wayne Wang. Though his first scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, he has gone on to establish a film and television career primarily playing martial artists. His breakout role was in the 1993 film Only the Strong, in which he played Louis, a Capoeira master who takes a high school's potential failures and turns their lives around by teaching them the Brazilian martial art based on the West African martial art brought by slaves. In the following year, Dacascos co-starred with Party of Five's Scott Wolf as Jimmy and Billy Lee, respectively, in the movie, based on the video game, Double Dragon.

He plays the role of the Chairman of Iron Chef America and Iron Chef Australia. In the series' backstory he is the nephew of the original Iron Chef Chairman, Takeshi Kaga; the actors hold no relation in real life.

He has been featured in many action films such as Brotherhood of the Wolf, Crying Freeman and Cradle 2 the Grave, in which he squared off against Jet Li. He also performed in three video games: voice acting in Stranglehold, live acting in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom and digitally recreating The Chairman in the Iron Chef video game for Wii.

Dacascos was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2002 for his role in Brotherhood of the Wolf.^[6] He also appeared in the television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, which was a follow-up to the 1994 film The Crow. He also appears in the children's television show, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, where he portrays Eubulon, also known as the Advent Master, mentor of the Kamen Riders and creator of the Advent Decks.

Dacascos plays the recurring role of "Wo Fat" on the CBS series, "Hawaii Five-0". He is slated to play Kung Lao in the second season of the YouTube series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.^[7]

Filmography [edit]

Television [edit]

Awards [edit]

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Mark Dacascos at the Internet Movie Database
• Official web site of Mark Dacascos
• HILuxury article on Mark Dacascos

v t e Hawaii Five-O & Hawaii Five-0 Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980) Cast Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett James MacArthur as Danny "Danno" Williams Zulu as Kono Kalakaua (1968-1972) Kam Fong as Chin Ho Kelly (1968-1978) Al Harrington as Ben Kokua (1972–1975) Herman Wedemeyer as Duke Lukela (1971–1980) Richard Denning as Governor Paul Jameson William Smith as James (later "Kimo") Carew (1979–1980) Moe Keale as Truck Kealoha (1979–1980) Douglas Mossman as Frank Kamana (1975–76) Sharon Farrell as Lori Wilson (1979–1980) Episodes Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Hawaii Five-0 (2010–present) Cast Alex O'Loughlin as Lieutenant Commander Steven "Steve" McGarrett Scott Caan as Detective Sergeant Daniel "Danny" ("Danno") Williams Daniel Dae Kim as Detective Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly Grace Park as Officer Kono Kalakaua Masi Oka as Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Max Bergman (Season 2–present, season one recurring) Lauren German as Special Agent Lori Weston (Season 2 episodes 2–4 recurring, Season 2 episodes 5–16) Michelle Borth as Lieutenant Catherine "Cath" Rollins (Season 3, season 1-2 recurring) Teilor Grubbs as Grace Williams Teila Tuli as Kamekona Christine Lahti as Doris McGarrett Taryn Manning as Maryann McGarrett William Sadler as Jack McGarrett James Marsters as Victor Hesse Will Yun Lee as Sang Min Episodes Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Other 1997 pilot Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh in Five-O, Mark Dacascos in Five-0) Edward Asner as August March