Danny Kaleikini | |
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 Kaleikini in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1937-10-10)October 10, 1937 Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, U.S. |
| Died | January 6, 2023(2023-01-06) (aged 85) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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Danny "Kaniela"Kaleikini (October 10, 1937 – January 6, 2023) was an American singer, musical artist, and entertainer. Best known for his long-termresidency at theKahala Hilton in Hawaii, where he performed for 28 years, Kaleikini is often called "The Ambassador ofAloha". During his career of more than 50 years in show business, he was the opening act forPaul Anka atCaesars Palace in Las Vegas,[1] and performed alongsideSammy Davis Jr.,Wayne Newton,Dolly Parton,Phyllis McGuire, andDon Ho.[2] A baritone who sang Hawaiian songs and played thenose flute, Kaleikini gained international recognition for promoting Hawaiian music, language, and culture.[3]
Kaleikini was born on October 10, 1937.[4] He grew up in Papakolea inHonolulu,[5] as one of nine children.[3] He was ofNative Hawaiian, Chinese, Korean, Irish, and Italian descent.[5] His father, Danny Kaleikini Sr., was in theHawaii National Guard,[6] and worked for theCity and County of Honolulu as arefuse worker.[5][7] His mother Margie worked as a cocktail waitress at theHilton Hawaiian Village.[6][7] Kaleikini was bilingual in English and Hawaiian, and grew up learning to speak theHawaiian language from his mother and grandfather.[8]
At the age of five, he earned money by selling copies ofThe Honolulu Advertiser with his brother.[9][7] On Fridays, after shining shoes inChinatown, Kaleikini and his brother went to jam sessions withJesse Kalima and Thousand Pounds of Melody, where they learned to sing and perform.[10][2]
Kaleikini went toRoyal Elementary School, where he played in the bell choir.[11] As a student at Kawananakoa Intermediate, he played the trumpet and drums,[11] and was elected student body president after running againstRobert Kihune and others.[7] Kaleikini attendedRoosevelt High School,[5] where he sang in the choir and performed in a 16-piece orchestra.[7] His high school classmates includedRon Jacobs and Wesley Park, who later became his business manager.[7] He attended theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa on a music scholarship,[5] and majored in music education.[12]
During his first year at University of Hawaiʻi, Kaleikini had a part-time job at the Waikiki Sands.[11][6] At the Sands, he was discovered by bandleaderRay Kinney, who encouraged him to sing for tips while working as abusboy.[6][13] Kinney became a mentor to Kaleikini, who also learned from entertainer Leinaala Ignacio.[6][10][14] After six months, Kaleikini moved with Kinney to theRoyal Hawaiian Hotel,[11] where he was hired full-time by performerHaunani Kahalewai.[3]
Kaleikini's first major break was at theHilton Hawaiian Village, where he performed for seven years.[11][2] There, he was mentored byHilo Hattie, who taught him toemcee in standard English rather than inPidgin.[6] He started working in theluau shows, and eventually became the headliner at the Tapa Room after the death ofAlfred Apaka,[10] performing together withhula dancer and singer Lani Custino.[15] In July 1961, a review in theHonolulu Star-Bulletin called Kaleikini "a charming shaker" who "has the correct shakes as he shows his versatility in doing the Hawaiian and Tahitian hulas."[15]
In 1967, Kaleikini landed his show as the headline entertainer at the Hala Terrace at theKahala Hilton, the first successful show outsideWaikiki.[2] His first five-year contract, negotiated by his manager Wesley Park, guaranteed income of $1.5 million.[7] Over time, it became a "must-see" show attended by United States presidents, foreign dignitaries, and Hollywood celebrities.[10] Kaleikini continued the residency at the Kahala Hilton for 28 years.[8]
The show opened on April 26, 1967,[12] and was twice nightly except for Tuesdays.[11] In addition to Kaleikini, it featured a female vocalist, Penny Silva, three dancers, and five musicians led by Jimmy Kaopuiki.[11] At first,Kahala was virtually unknown as a destination for tourists or for locals.[7][6] Kaleikini was actively involved in promoting the show, taking a hula dancer and a ukulele player to Waikiki to perform songs during the day to build interest.[6]
A review in 1971 called it a "family show" with friendly and "clean" jokes that "would not make it in Waikiki".[5] The show highlighted the cultures of both Hawaii andTahiti.[5] Kaleikini sang and danced with the moonlit Pacific Ocean as his backdrop, and mingled, and joked with the audience, calling on his friends to perform.[5] A "comic linguist",[16] Kaleikini typically opened the show with a multi-lingual greeting,[7] and spoke Japanese to the Japanese tourists.[5] He also played the rareHawaiian nose flute,[17][8] which took him five years to master.[18]Billboard magazine reported that Kaleikini performed eight tunes during an hour set,[19] including traditional Hawaiian andhapa haole "songs of Hawaii" written by pop artists,[3] with hints of country music.[19] The show's success was often attributed to Kaleikini's warmth and ability to charm the audience.[17] By 1972, it was known as the "best-drawing Hawaiian show in the islands".[20] Over the years, the show became more international in flavor, in response to more diverse audiences from around the world.[19]
By 1974, he had the longest-running main room revue, having started his eighth year in the same locale.[21] Over 10,000 performances later, on April 27, 1987, Kaleikini celebrated his 20th anniversary at the Hilton with a two-hour show.[22] In 1988, GovernorJohn Waihee officially declared Danny Kaleikini as "Hawaii's Ambassador of Aloha".[4]
Kaleikini retired from the Kahala Hilton on December 31, 1994,[8] when the hotel was sold.[10] His long run at the Hala Terrace of the Kahala Hilton earned him a nomination in theGuinness Book of World Records.[8][23] In 2022, the Kahala Hotel & Resort honored him by renaming its front drive to Danny Kaleikini Square.[24]
Over the course of his career, Kaleikini became a frequent visitor to Japan and learned to speak Japanese.[10] In 1970, he was asked by GovernorJohn A. Burns to attendExpo '70, the world's fair held inOsaka, Japan, to check out the Hawaii Pavilion and coach the performers.[25] His visit to the Expo, accompanied by the popular Hawaiian sumo wrestlerJesse "Takamiyama" Kuhaulua, helped to raise his profile and led to subsequent engagements in Japan.[6]
In April 1973, Kaleikini was invited to the second annualTokyo Music Festival to compete with singers from around the world,[26] includingOlivia Newton-John.[7] Kaleikini sang "My Goddess of Love" byCharles "Bud" Dant and won theTBS Award.[26][4]
On July 26, 1986, Kaleikini became the first"foreigner" (gaijin) to perform at the Hiroshima Peace Music Festival,[27][4] after being invited by Hiroshima MayorTakeshi Araki, who had seen him perform at the Kahala Hilton three years prior.[28] Kaleikini sang "The Snows of Mauna Kea" by Jay Larrin, Japanese classic "Koko ni sachi ari", and Frank Sinatra's "My Way", in a program that was broadcast nationwide in Japan on August 3, 1986, byNippon Television Network.[27]
On June 21, 1973, Kaleikini had his Las Vegas debut at the 1,000-seatCaesars Palace showroom, opening forPaul Anka during a two-week engagement.[29][30] His first show was attended by an estimated 400 people from Hawaii,[30] and broadcast by one-hour satellite delay onKHON-TV in Honolulu.[29] The following year, he was invited back to Caesars Palace for a one-week engagement as the co-headliner with Phyllis McGuire, one ofthe McGuire Sisters.[31] In December 1988,Harrah's Reno in Nevada featured "Danny Kaleikini's Hawaiian Christmas", a one-week engagement at the Headliner Room.[32]
In the 1960s, Kaleikini had a radio show onKHVH on Saturday afternoons from 1 pm to 5 pm.[11] In the 1970s, he became a regular onWebley Edwards'sHawaii Calls radio show, a showcase for professional musicians, once considered the most widely known Hawaiian music radio program worldwide.[33] After Edwards had a heart attack in 1972, the show was taken over by new management, and Kaleikini was hired by Bud Dant as the permanent host.[33][34] Kaleikini became a 20-percent owner of the show, which struggled to obtain sponsorship in its final years, andHawaii Calls aired for the last time on August 16, 1975.[33]
Kaleikini appeared in a few episodes of the originalHawaii Five-O television series, as well asThe Merv Griffin Show,The Today Show, andDolly (with host Dolly Parton).[18]
In 1970, he became the host ofDanny Kaleikini Theater onKHON-TV, which aired on Saturdays at 11 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm.[35][20] Each week, he presented a feature film, with three pre-recorded segments where Kaleikini showed unique spots in Hawaii.[35]
Kaleikini was in two motion pictures,[12] includingThe Hawaiians, a 1970 film based on the novelHawaii byJames Michener.[36] InThe Hawaiians, Kaleikini played the captain of the Royal Hawaiian Guard, who arrested the lead character played byCharlton Heston.[36]
In the 1960s, the Kaleikinis had two bikini shops in Waikiki—one on Seaside Avenue and the other inside the Hilton Hawaiian Village.[11] The shops featured Polynesian wear for men and women under the "Danny Kaleikini" label, and were operated by his wife, Jacqueline, who was originally from Tahiti.[20] They eventually expanded to five shops.[37]
An avid golfer, Kaleikini, won the inauguralTahiti Open in 1982.[7] He was the official greeter of theHawaiian Open Golf Tournament for many years starting in 1972.[38] He also hosted his own annual Danny Kaleikini golf tournament in Hawaii and in Japan.[17] He served on the board of directors for companies including Aloha Petroleum and Servco Pacific and Financial, and numerous nonprofit organizations, such as the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, the Honolulu Boy Choir, Hui Waʻa Surfing Association,Kamehameha Schools, andWaialae Country Club.[17]
In 1972, Kaleikini made his debut asemcee of theAnnual Ukulele Festival of Hawaii,[39] which he continued to host every year together with festival founderRoy Sakuma, as it grew into an international event at theKapiolani Park Bandstand.[40] In 2018, he was both emcee and guest of honor at the 48th Annual Ukulele Festival,[41] and performed in the final virtual event in 2022.[42]
In 1983, he established the non-profit Danny Kaleikini Foundation, and served as president.[2] The foundation gave over $400,000 in donations, helping local organizations provide services to the community.[2] He also endowed the Danny Kaleikini scholarship at the University of Hawaii.[8]
Kaleikini was closely involved in the restoration and preservation ofKahaluʻu Fish Pond over a two-year period starting in 1995,[3][4] working with his business partner Linda Wong and four other volunteers.[43] To raise funds for the project, they built the Aloha Ke Akua Chapel, operated by Watabe Wedding Corp.[3]
Over the years, he gave his time to more than 100 community organizations.[44]
In 1994, former Honolulu mayorFrank Fasi chose Kaleikini as his running mate when he ran for governor. Fasi formed a short-lived independent party called the Best Party, after a political career during which he had run and served as both a Democrat and a Republican mayor in Hawaii. In their campaign, Fasi and Kaleikini promised to "give government back to the people" and cut income taxes.[45]
Kaleikini was considered a popular but unconventional choice for lieutenant governor.[45] He had long-standing connections to "politicos" in Honolulu, where he was known as a "straight shooter".[21] During the 1994 campaign, he was praised for helping to "smooth" Fasi's "notorious bluntness", but critics worried about Kaleikini's lack of political experience and his readiness to assume the office of governor in the event of an emergency.[45] Based on the candidates' financial disclosure forms, Kaleikini was found to be the wealthiest among the six candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor.[46]
After spending close to $4 million on the gubernatorial campaign, Fasi and Kaleikini finished second in the election, with 31 percent of the vote.[45] They finished ahead of Republican candidatesPat Saiki andFred Hemmings, but were 6 percentage points behind DemocratsBen Cayetano andMazie Hirono.[45]
Kaleikini had his own recording company, DK Records.[17] In 1993, producer Michael Cord releasedDanny Kaleikini: Hawaii's Ambassador of Aloha, a double-length disc of 24 songs recorded by Kaleikini in the 1970s.[47]
In 2006, Mahalo Records re-issuedLuau at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which featured a 1962 recording of Kaleikini headlining a "live" show prior to his tenure at the Kahala Hilton.[48] Wayne Harada wrote inThe Honolulu Advertiser that the album, "complete withconch shell blowing and description of thepig-in-the-imu procession, is a reflection of another era, and, for Kaleikini die-hards, a glimpse of a star in the making."[49]
In 2015, Danny Kaleikini and his grandson Nicholas Kaleikini recorded and releasedAloooha, an album of five songs including Hawaiian and pop standards with American jazz and pop arrangements.[50] The EP was well-received by critics, with John Berger ofHonolulu Star-Advertiser saying that "Danny's voice is as strong and operatic as ever."[51]
In 2017, the Kaleikinis recorded and releasedMahaaalo, which introduced three original songs, including "Aloha" which was written by Danny and sung in Hawaiian, and "Kuʻuipo", a love song which Danny and Nicholas wrote together.[50] It was a first for Danny Kaleikini, who likeFrank Sinatra andAlfred Apaka, was best known for his covers rather than as a songwriter.[50]
Kaleikini married Jacqueline Wong ofTahiti, with whom he had two children: a daughter, Leonn Keikilani, and a son named Danjacques.[20][52] Both children performed with their father from the age of two.[20] On Thanksgiving Day 1992, Danjacques Kaleikini died of complications frompneumonia at age 29.[53]
Kaleikini died atSt. Francis Hospice in Nuʻuanu on January 6, 2023, at age 85.[52] A memorial service for Kaleikini was held atKawaiahaʻo Church on February 18, 2023.[54]
Danny Kaleikini received numerous awards and honors during his lifetime, including:
A documentary,Kaniela: The Danny Kaleikini Story, had its world premiere on October 10, 2024, at theHawaii International Film Festival (HIFF).[58][59]
The executive producer, Mike Lum, who co-directed the film with filmmaker Pawel Nuckowski, first met Kaleikini in early 2020 when he agreed to appear in a television commercial for Lum'sMedicare insurance business which aired while most Hawaii residents were staying home due to the globalCOVID-19 pandemic.[58][60] After getting to know him and collaborating on various other projects, Lum approached Kaleikini with the idea for a documentary, and began filming in October 2021.[61][60]
In addition to interviews with Kaleikini, his friends, and family,Kaniela incorporates old film footage, including the earliest footage of Kaleikini performing at the Kahala Hilton, provided to the producers by his daughter Keikilani.[59][61] According to Keikilani Kaleikini, the film is "a real documentary, not a tribute", with emotional, funny, and sad moments that provide a glimpse into the realities of his life and his legacy ofaloha.[62]
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