Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor and martial artist.
He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages
of 7 and 18.
Beginning in January 2005, Dacascos has portrayed the Chairman on Food Network's television
series Iron Chef America.
This role was previously played by Takeshi Kaga in the original Japanese Iron Chef, and
Dacascos' character is presented as Kaga's nephew, though the actors are not related.
Some of his other roles include the recurring character of Wo Fat on the CBS series Hawaii
Five-0, Kung Lao in the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, Eric Draven in The Crow: Stairway
to Heaven, Eubulon, the Advent Master, in Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, the role of Mani
in the French film Brotherhood of the Wolf, and the lead role of Crying Freeman in the
film of the same name.
Dacascos competed in season 9 of Dancing with the Stars.
Biography Dacascos' father, Al Dacascos, is from Hawaii,
and is a martial arts instructor of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese ancestry.
His mother, Moriko McVey-Murray, is of Irish and Japanese ancestry.
In the History Channel presentation, "Samurai", he revealed that many of the Japanese side
of his mother's family were killed in the bombing of Hiroshima.
His stepmother, award winning martial artist, Malia Bernal, raised him.
Dacascos attended Los Angeles Valley College and was on their 1983-1984 Gymnastics Team
coached by Gary Honjio.
He also attended Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.
Dacascos is proficient in his father's style of Martial Art, Wun Hop Kuen Do.
He has studied Muay Thai with Kru Puk, Capoeira with Mestre Amen Santo, and Wushu with Coaches
Eric and Debbie Chen, though he self-admittedly is still very much a beginner/intermediate
student in those arts.
Personal life He is married to actress Julie Condra, who
starred with him in Crying Freeman.
They have three children, two older boys and one younger girl.
Their names are Makoa, Kapono and Noelani.
Career
Dacascos became an actor after being discovered walking down the street in San Francisco's
Chinatown by Chris Lee and Rexall Chin for director Wayne Wang.
Though his first scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, he went on to establish a film
and television career primarily playing martial artists.
He was originally set to play as the red ranger in Bio-Man produced by Haim Saban which never
got picked up.
His breakout role was in the 1993 film Only the Strong, in which he played Louis, a Capoeira
master who takes a high school's potential failures and turns their lives around by teaching
them the Brazilian martial art based on the West African martial art brought by slaves.
In the following year, Dacascos co-starred with Party of Five's Scott Wolf as Jimmy and
Billy Lee, respectively, in the movie, based on the video game, Double Dragon.
He plays the role of the Chairman of Iron Chef America and Iron Chef Australia.
In the series' backstory he is the nephew of the original Iron Chef Chairman, Takeshi
Kaga; the actors hold no relation in real life.
He has been featured in many action films such as Brotherhood of the Wolf, Crying Freeman
and Cradle 2 the Grave, in which he squared off against Jet Li.
He also performed in three video games: voice acting in Stranglehold, live acting in Wing
Commander IV: The Price of Freedom and digitally recreating The Chairman in the Iron Chef video
game for Wii.
Dacascos was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2002 for his
role in Brotherhood of the Wolf.
He also appeared in the television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, which was a
follow-up to the 1994 film The Crow.
He also appears in the children's television show, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, where he
portrays Eubulon, also known as the Advent Master, mentor of the Kamen Riders and creator
of the Advent Decks.
Dacascos plays the recurring role of "Wo Fat" on the CBS series, "Hawaii Five-0".
He portrayed Kung Lao in the second season of the YouTube series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
Filmography
Television Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films
References
External links Mark Dacascos at the Internet Movie Database
Official web site of Mark Dacascos HILuxury article on Mark Dacascos