Kwan Hi Lim (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The ...

:임관희; July 11, 1922 – December 22, 2008) was a Korean-American

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to ...

, best known for his role as Lt. Tanaka in the television series ''

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...

'' The reboot of the same TV series was played by

Sung Kang Sung-Ho Kang (born April 8, 1972) is an American actor. His first major role was as Han Lue in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, a character he first portrayed in ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002). Kang also played John Mak in the television serie ...

& no relation to

Tim Kang Yila Timothy Kang (born March 16, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Kimball Cho in the television series ''The Mentalist'' and Gordon Katsumoto in the CBS/NBC reboot series '' Magnum P.I.'' Early life and education Kang w ...

Life and career

A native of Hawaii, he was one of the many locals who have been used in TV series and movies that took place on the islands. Lim appeared frequently on the TV series ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'', where he primarily portrayed villains. He was known to many as the recurring character Lt. Yoshi Tanaka of the

Honolulu Police Department The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu CDP. Officially recognized as a part of the government of t ...

on ''

''. Lim worked as an attorney since 1953, retiring in the 1990s. Lim had an office on the third floor of an old mixed-use office building on King Street in the Chinatown section of Honolulu. He once was asked why he always played the "bad guy" in the ''Hawaii Five-O'' series. He attributed it to "the way I squint my eyes, I just look evil". He got his first television role in his 40s when he was flirting with some tourists after coming from surfing and a casting director from ''Hawaii Five-O'' spotted him. Lim never had any formal training throughout his acting career. After ''Magnum, P.I.'', he acted sporadically and was a ''per diem'' judge for the Family Court system in Honolulu.http://starbulletin.com/2005/01/29/news/whatever.html.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1922 births American male television actors American male actors of Korean descent Male actors from Hawaii 2008 deaths 20th-century American male actors {{US-tv-actor-1930s-stub