Al Kikume (born Elmer Kikumi Gozier;"United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4D7-DXF : Sat Feb 24 02:27:30 UTC 2024), Entry for Elmer Kikumi Gozier, 1942. October 9, 1894 – March 27, 1972) was an American actor, musician, and bandleader of Hawaiian descent. He was a frequently featured musical performer—on radio,"Hawaiian Players With Kline Known Well by Radio Fans"
''The Roeburg News-Review''. May 19, 1925. p. 3. Retrieved November 22, 2024. preceding silent film screenings, and at miscellaneous live events—during the 1920s and early thirties, as well as a familiar face among supporting actors in Hollywood jungle movies during the thirties, forties and fifties.

Early life and career

Kikume was born in

Kauai County Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 mi ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Known for his association with Honolulu's Royal Hawaiian Band, as well as revivals of the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

play, '' Bird of Paradise'', Kikume's first credited screen appearance was as "Chief Mehevi" in

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

's '' The Hurricane'' (1937)."Al Kikume Filmography"

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

Personal life and death

By no later than 1911, Kikume was married to Virgil Edna Smith, with whom he had one son, Bernard Kikume Gozier, aka Bernie Gozier. Gozier went on to have a substantial Hollywood career of his own, both as bit player and

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

, appearing in at least one film, '' Green Dolphin Street'', alongside his father. Kikume died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on March 27, 1972."California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG64-KW58 : Fri Mar 08 17:17:16 UTC 2024), Entry for Elmer K Gozier, 27 March 1972.

Partial filmography

* ''

Hula Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form expressing chant (''oli'') or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), ''mele''). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli ...

'' (1937) – Native musician accompanying

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

hula Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form expressing chant (''oli'') or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), ''mele''). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli ...

dance"Joyland Will Present 'Night in Honolulu'"
''The Grass Valley Union''. March 3, 1932. p. 3. Retrieved November 22, 2024. * '' Tarzan the Fearless'' (1933) * '' The Perils of Pauline'' (1933) serial * '' The Hurricane'' (1937) – Chief Mehevi * '' Air Devils'' (1938) – Don Kahano * ''

Mandrake the Magician ''Mandrake the Magician'' is a Comic strip syndication, syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk before he created ''The Phantom''.Ron Goulart, ''The Encyclopedia of American Comics''. New York: Facts on File, 1990. . pp. 91, 249 ...

'' (1939) serial * ''

Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

'' (1940) * ''

South of Pago Pago ''South of Pago Pago'' is a 1940 American South Seas adventure film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Victor McLaglen, Jon Hall and Frances Farmer. Plot In 1875 a group of adventurers meet in Singapore to look for pearls in the Pacific I ...

'' (1940) * ''

Jungle Girl A jungle girl (so-called, but usually adult woman) is an archetype or stock character, often used in popular fiction, of a female adventurer, superhero or even a damsel in distress living in a jungle or rainforest setting. A prehistoric depiction ...

'' (1941) serial * '' Perils of Nyoka'' (1942) serial * ''

White Savage ''White Savage'' is a 1943 American Technicolor South Seas adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywo ...

'' (1943) * '' She Gets Her Man'' (1945) – Joe * '' Song of the Sarong'' (1945) * '' Green Dolphin Street'' (1947) * '' On the Isle of Samoa'' (1950) – Chief Tihati * ''

Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla ''Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla'' (also known as ''The Boys from Brooklyn'' and in England as ''Monster Meets the Gorilla'') is a 1952 American comedy horror science fiction film, directed by William Beaudine and starring horror veteran B ...

'' (1952)

References

External links

* 1894 births 1972 deaths American male film actors Male film serial actors Native Hawaiian people 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American male musicians Native Hawaiian male actors Native Hawaiian musicians {{US-film-actor-1890s-stub