'Hawaii Five-O' Actor Taylor Wily Dies at 56

Taylor Wily, who rose to fame on the sumo circuit in the late 1980s before moving into acting, appearing in memorable roles on the TV reboot of Hawaii Five-0 and the comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, died this week in Hawaii, according to the local ABC News affiliate on the island. He was 56. 

Wily’s death on June 20 was confirmed by TV producer Peter M. Lenkov, executive producer on the Hawaii Five-0 reboot. The network hit ran for a decade after premiering to a strong reception in 2010. On the show, Wily played Kamekona Tupuola, a shrimp truck owner and informant providing intel to the Five-0 Task Force. On Instagram, Lenkov wrote of his shock at the news of his friend’s death, then shared a heartfelt note directed to Wily.

“I am devastated. Heartbroken. I’ll post some detailed feelings later. Just too hard right now,” Lenkov wrote in an initial post. Later in a second post, the producer who also brought reboots of 1980s favorites Mcgyver and Magnum P.I. to the network, wrote, “T, as I told you many times, I fell in love with you at the first audition. You came in with a towel on your head mopping up sweat, and I was smitten. You charmed me into making you a regular… on the show… and in my life. You were family. And I will miss you every day, brother.

“PS: when we spoke last week, we laughed at how right you were from Day 1. Five-0 was our dream job. And I was so lucky we got to share that magic together,” he concluded. 

Hailing from Laie, Hawaii, Wily — who stood 6’2” and weighed 450 pounds, was recruited in 1987 into the Azumazeki stable of sumo, the century-spanning national sport of Japan. Wily, who wrestled under the name Takamikuni, was undefeated in his first 14 matches and soon became the first foreign-born wrestler to win the championship in the sport’s makushita division. Two years after starting his career in the sport, Takamikuni reached the rank of makushita 2; however, he declined to pursue sumo further after knee issues developed.

In addition to his decade on Hawaii Five-0, Wily appeared as a bartender who befriends Jason Segel’s lovelorn main character in the comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall; he also appeared on an episode of The Amazing Race. 

Wily is survived by his wife Halona and their two children.