Danny Kaleikini — singer, musician, showroom entertainer, actor and recording artist known as the “Ambassador of Aloha” and for his personal credo, “Aloha ke kahi i ke kahi” (“Love is everywhere. Love is where you find it”) — died in his sleep today at St. Francis Hospice in Nuuanu. He was 85.
His death was confirmed this morning by his business partner Linda Wong.
Born and raised on homestead land overlooking Honolulu and a graduate of Roosevelt High School, Kaleikini left the University of Hawaii at Manoa to pursue a career as a full-time entertainer and never looked back.
His 27-year engagement at the Hala Terrace, a room that had been designed as a coffee shop rather than a showroom, in what was then the Kahala Hilton, is the longest by any individual Hawaiian showroom star in a single venue.
Kaleikini was the first major showroom headliner to foresee the explosive growth of Japanese tourism. He became conversational in Japanese and learned basic greetings in many other languages.
Hawaii comedian Andy Bumatai famously observed that if “space aliens” landed at the Kahala Hilton, Kaleikini would greet them in their own language.
In addition to being a multitalented entertainer, Kaleikini was an astute businessman who handled all aspects of managing, staging and producing his show at the Kahala Hilton.
In 1991, he became one of the first Hawaii showroom entertainers to offer a full-length video as a showroom souvenir when he released “Danny Kaleikini’s Hawaii” on VHS.
Kaleikini shared his concerns as a Native Hawaiian businessman in 1994 when he ran for lieutenant governor as Frank Fasi’s partner on the Best Party ticket. The unsuccessful campaign was his only foray into the political arena.
Kaleikini received the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
In 1998, Kaleikini opened the Aloha Ke Akua Chapel at Kahouna Fishpond in Kahaluu in partnership with Watabe Wedding Corp. of Japan.
His interests in recent years included maintaining the fishpond, and mentoring his grandson, musician and recording artist Nicholas Kaleikini.
Other survivors include his wife, Jacqueline Wong Kaleikini, and his daughter, Leonn Keikilani Kaleikini.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Star
