Kim Kahana, the stunt performer, teacher, coordinator and war hero who played Chongo on the kids show Danger Island and doubled for Charles Bronson in several action films, has died. He was 94.
Kahana died Monday of natural causes at his home in Groveland, Florida, his wife, Sandy Kahana, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Kahana, 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds, taught stunts to many thousands of students since the mid-1970s in six-week courses that took place in Chatsworth, California, and Central Florida. Many went on to have thriving careers in show business.
He also had six different black belt degrees — he taught martial arts, too — and worked as a professional bodyguard protecting Hollywood types.
A native of Hawaii, Kahana appeared in his first film as a biker in the Marlon Brando-starring The Wild One (1953) and was an extra in other movies before he realized that stunt performers got paid more than he did.
Kahana died Monday of natural causes at his home in Groveland, Florida, his wife, Sandy Kahana, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Kahana, 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds, taught stunts to many thousands of students since the mid-1970s in six-week courses that took place in Chatsworth, California, and Central Florida. Many went on to have thriving careers in show business.
He also had six different black belt degrees — he taught martial arts, too — and worked as a professional bodyguard protecting Hollywood types.
A native of Hawaii, Kahana appeared in his first film as a biker in the Marlon Brando-starring The Wild One (1953) and was an extra in other movies before he realized that stunt performers got paid more than he did.
- 8/13/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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Twenty-five years ago today, ‘90s kids discovered something they didn’t know they needed: a piece of the Aggro Crag.
Alas, no one could simply circle it in the Toys ‘R’ Us holiday catalog. If you really wanted a piece of the mountain, later called the Mega Crag in season three, you had to don the blue, purple, or red uniform as a competitor on Nickelodeon Guts.
Flashback: Revisit Your Favorite Pop Culture Moments With Et
Amongst the tween programming block that also included Legends of the Hidden Temple and Nick Arcade, the series has come to represent an era of a specific genre of TV that has yet to be successfully replicated. An action competition show, young players were given the chance to perform in a literal sports fantasy, provided they didn’t mind doing it on national television. Today, nostalgia for the series is alive and well within its original demographic...
- 9/19/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
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