Vale: Taylor Wily

US actor Taylor Wily, best known for Hawaii Five-0, has died aged 56.

He died on Thursday according media reports but the cause of death has not been disclosed.

Wily was from Laie, Hawaii and was of American Samoan descent.

Prior to becoming an actor, he was a successful and popular sumo wrester and mixed martial artist. After leaving sumo, Wily began competing in Ultimate Fighting Championships.

His first notable acting role came in the comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008.

Two years later, he was cast in a recurring role on Hawaii Five-0 as informant Kamekona, a character he would play for the next ten years on the show.

He played the same character in seven episodes of Magnum P.I. from 2018 to 2020.

Peter M. Lenkov, executive producer of the 2010-20 Hawaii Five-0 reboot posted “I am devastated. Heartbroken. I’ll post some detailed feelings later. Just too hard right now.”

Source: Deadline