Central
Dispatch
THE
Volume
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Harry Endo (aka
Che Fong)
By Terri Whitman
Sadly,
two more actors of
Harry
Endo wasn’t the only person to portray the forensic expert, Che
Fong, that Steve McGarrett always counted on so
heavily to prove or disapprove the validity of the crime scene clues. Endo was
the one who stayed though. We all got to know his cherub type of smile and his
knowing eyes as he presented the facts to the top cop.
Not
much is known about Che Fong. His character was
without a family history, though some fanfiction
writers created one for him.
On
After
Married
for 60 years to Myrtle, Endo is the father of two: daughter Leslie Baker and
son Scott Endo. Born in
Harry
Endo (aka Che Fong) you
will be missed by many.
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By Al Cater
Episode..."Is This Anyway To Run A
4th Season Aired
Synopsis: McGarrett searches for an ecology fanatic whose pranks are
harmless until he threatens the lives of those he feels are the cause of the
islands’ pollution.
It was just another day
at
Then on Wednesday, I got
a call from our
So, after flying all day,
I couldn’t wait to take a flight on Hawaiian Airlines to
"It’s a bright and
beautiful sunny day, and great for filming," I thought to myself, before
making my way toward the Flight Line where the Stearman
was parked. I kept thinking…"this is going to be fun, a really fun
day". After calling the Tower, I was cleared to taxi to Runway 4 and then proceeded
to wait for the green light. As soon as they gave me the green light, I was
authorized to take off, ascend, and turn left toward our
As I flew high above the
blue waters, and clear skies, with the warmth of the sun on my face in the open
cockpit, it just felt great! As I approached the airstrip high above, and
circling around, getting ready to descend downward, I couldn’t help but notice
all the parked cars, large trailer, and people everywhere close to the sugar
cane. There were lots of things going on, and I was invited to what would
become a ‘memorable occasion’ for me, one that I would never forget. I landed
on the runway, and parked over to the side, climbed out of the airplane, and
jumped down on the ground. It was then, that a man walked toward me and said,
"Hey, we’re so glad
you here, and we need to quickly get your smoke bombs
set up on DA airplane."
I said, "Smoke
bombs?"
And, he said, "Yea,
you are going to be shot down!"
"WHAT?" I said
with a little indignation.
"No, no, not like dat, not fo’ reel, jus make
believe, yu, no? And also, we geev yu da’
seeg-nal of DA igniters, wen
to pull." Then he told me it would take about 45 minutes to get
everything ready on the airplane, and I could just relax during the interim.
So, as I started to walk
around, I turned slightly and coming toward me was Jack Lord with his hand
extended out to shake my hand! And, I had thoughts that I wouldn’t meet him?
Here he was, and looking most friendly and eager to make my acquaintance! He
said, "I am so glad you are here!"
Then I said back,
"Well Mr. Lord, it is really my pleasure to be here!"
He said, "Please
call me Jack!" Then he said, "First things first, I want you to meet Danno."
Well, I knew that meant
James MacArthur, who was a well-seasoned movie star
with a lot of credits to his name. So, as we walked together toward the
air-conditioned trailer, I thought to myself, what a gracious man, and truly he
has the ‘aloha spirit.
He knocked on the trailer
door, and out popped James MacArthur, and Jack said
to him, "I want you to meet our pilot for the day." And, so I had a
brief hello with Danno, and then shortly afterward we
made our way back to the set.
We spent considerable
time together working out the logistics of my flying scene, and he wanted me to
fly like a crazy pilot, and do some hair raising turns, which is completely
opposite of my specialized training as an ag-pilot.
But, this was the movies, and with careful maneuvers I could pull it off and
look a little loco.
During the course of the
day I spent approximately five hours with Mr. Lord before the flying scene and
afterward. I noticed how meticulous he was in getting everything exact, and
with his camera dangling off of his shirt he was taking pictures constantly for
all kinds of angle shots, etc. For the first 45 minutes before I flew, he
really took time with me, and was sincerely interested in my career, and where
I graduated, and various other crop dusting jobs.
Then at one point he told
me that I should meet his friend Hugh O’Brien who has a collection of antique
airplanes. I told him, that if that could be arranged, I would love to see
those planes. Well, 45 minutes never went by so fast, and it was time to fly!
Everything was set, I had
the smoke bombs on board, and I was told to look down and keep my eye on the
rifle which fires blanks that send out smoke and that would be my signal to
pull my smoke bombs in the airplane. I did a couple of passes, ticked the top
of the sugar cane to look like that ‘wild pilot’, and on the last pass I saw
the smoke from the rifle, and I pulled the igniters, and poof out came the
smoke. Billows, and billows of smoke, with a big trail behind me, it looked so
incredibly real! Thank goodness it wasn’t real, but a great façade of movie
illusion.
So, I landed and my job
was done and complete, as the movie crew took over to make the airplane look as
though it had really crashed after being shot down. I climbed out of the Stearman, and walked over to the area where the script was
available for me to see. I was instructed to keep an eye on things as they
unfolded.
As the actor pilot was laying on the stretcher he made a statement that made me
laugh as I heard it, and it was this: "This is the first time I’ve ever
been shot down in a cabbage patch!"
After I heard this
remarkable statement, I turned to Jack and said, "Ah, excuse me Jack, but
he can’t say that!"
Jack quipped, "What
do you mean?"
I couldn’t help but
chuckle as I said, "Well, there isn’t a cabbage patch here, only SUGAR
CANE!"
Jack’s mouth literally
took a drop, and he put his arms up and said,
"HOLD IT’ we need to change the lines! Say SUGAR CANE,
AND NO CABBAGE PATCH!" So, that was my little contribution, and cabbages
are not mentioned in the final episode!
As the day came to a
close, I was one happy pilot, but sad to leave a new acquaintance named Jack
Lord. I had thoroughly enjoyed him as a person, and the professional actor as
he is portrayed on screen, but I couldn’t help but think that there is more to
this man than meets the eye.
Yes, he was tough as
nails on the outside, but inwardly I sensed he had a great heart, and later I
would learn of his tremendous 40 million dollar charity donations to Hawaii,
after his passing in January of 1998. Our paths crossed in a moment of time, we
enjoyed each other, and we never saw one another again. I will always miss him,
and
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A word from our sponsors:
2009
The 2008 Calendars will be ready for
mailing by Thanksgiving. Once again, we have two to chose
from. There will be season 8 screen captures on the
*****
Anyone interested in copies of
*****
Ron Evans, owner of e/p Partners, www.networksplus.net/caseyguy/epPartners.htm,
also offer VCR tapes of
*****
Karen Rhodes, author of Booking
*****
Hard copies of the newsletter are
available.
The
Submissions, which are always welcomed, to the
newsletter can be emailed to me at tw1151@comcast.net. Deadlines are one month
before each issue. You can find the Central Dispatch on Terri’s Jack Lord
Connection located at www.thejacklordconnection.com.