Beloved Semi-Regulars

Joe Moore

Moore has been a familiar face on television since 1969, when he settled in Hawai‘i. He became a sportscaster for CBS-TV affiliate KGMB in 1969. His mentor was news director Bob Sevey, a popular Hawaii Five-0 face.

In 1972, Joe made his first of eleven appearances on Five-0 in "Skinhead" (Season 4). He considers his best work to have been done in "Sign of the Ram" (Season 12), "Dealer's Choice...Blackmail" (Season 9), "You Don't See Many Pirates These Days" (Season 10), and "The Case Against Philip Christie" (Season 11). Other episodes include "Murder With a Golden Touch" ( Season 6), "Bones of Contention" (Season 7), "Turkey Shoot at Makapuu" (Season 8), and "Deep Cover" (Season 10). In 1979, Jack Lord offered him a regular role on Hawaii Five-0 as Danno’s replacement; however, he turned it down in favor of his sportscasting career. In 1978, Joe moved to NBC-TV (later FOX) affiliate KHON, where he serves as a newscaster to this day.

Moore starred in two independent films, Goodbye Paradise and Moonglow, and guest-starred in several television series set in Hawaii, including Magnum, PI; Tour of Duty; Jake and the Fatman; and One West Waikiki. Moore’s stage work includes seven productions with Pat Sajak (Wheel of Fortune), including The Odd Couple, The Honeymooners, The Boys in Autumn, and Dial M for Murder, all to benefit the Hawai'i Theatre.

Born Joseph Brice Moore, Jr., Joe is the son of an Air Force officer. He grew up in Honolulu and attended Aiea High School. His father’s transfer to Ohio resulted in his graduating from high school there. He went on to study communications and history at the University of Maryland. He dropped out in 1967 and served two tours of duty in Vietnam as an Army journalist and newscaster. He is married to Teresa and has a son, Bryce.

Jimmy Borges

One of my heroes was Herman Wedemeyer. He went to St. Louis, I went to St. Louis. And

he was a great, great football player. And I tried to emulate his moves. …he was in the

twelfth grade when I was in the first grade. But he was like one of my, wow, my heroes. I

would go to every football game that St. Louis played. And I would watch him, and watch

the way he ran, and the way he juked, and all this, and I learned from that.[1]

~ Jimmy Borges

Jimmy Borges was born in the Kalihi neighborhood of Honolulu on June 1, 1935. He graduated from St. Louis High School in Honolulu and attended college in San Francisco on a football scholarship. While in college, he sang in college rallies with such singers as Johnny Mathis.

He left college to sing and learned the ropes by singing in places like Las Vegas, Nevada; New York City; Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Auckland, Australia; and Tokyo, Japan. Having paid his dues, he returned to Hawaii to perform.

Jimmy was singing at a jazz spot called Keone’s in Waikiki when Jack Lord stopped by. He liked Jimmy’s extemporaneous connection with his audience and invited him to read for a part on Hawaii Five-0. Long story short, Jimmy appeared in 15 episodes.

He went on to appear in Magnum P.I., Charlie’s Angels, and other shows and movies-of-the-week that filmed in Hawai‘i. Now, he has appeared in the Hawaii Five-0 remake, as well.

Jimmy continued to perform in jazz concerts and lectures at universities concerning his career and his battle with liver cancer that he battled for several years before his death on May 30, 2016. He was married to Vicky Bergeron and had a daughter, Steffanie Borges Juergensen.

David "Lippy" Espinda

Lippy Espinda, who was born on November 2, 1913, was known as the “King of Pidgin” and the originator of the “shaka” sign and the greeting “Shaka, Brah.” He owned a gas station and used-car lot but was best known as the emcee of “Lippy’s Lanai Theater,” as a benefit auctioneer, and as a banquet speaker.

We know Lippy best as the taxi driver in “The Guarnerius Caper” (Season 3) and as the informer who called dollar bills “crispies” in “‘V’ for Vashon: The Patriarch.” In all, Lippy Espinda appeared in eleven episodes of Five-0 between 1970 and 1975. His last appearance was as pawn shop owner Kaneho in “The Waterfront Steal” (Season 8), filmed shortly before his death.

In addition, Espinda performed as Hanalei in three episodes of The Brady Bunch (1972), as a workman in Inferno in Paradise (1974), and as Chief in He Is My Brother (1975).

David “Lippy” Espinda died on June 7, 1975, at the age of 61.

Hilo Hattie

Born on October 28, 1901, in Honolulu as Clarissa “Clara” Haili, Hilo Hattie was a vivacious personality, who loved to sing, dance, and perform naughty and comedic hulas. She began to establish her trademark movements as a child, when she danced the hula despite her mother’s objections and sang in the church choir.

Even while a teacher at Waipahu Elementary School, Clara began performing at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Waialae Country Club. She made her mark at a teacher’s convention in Portland, Oregon, when she performed Don McDiarmid’s song, When Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop. Her interpretation shocked the composer, who conducted the Royal Hawaiian Hotel orchestra. When his dancer fell ill, Clara was chosen to perform her adaptation. The audience loved her, prompting her to begin using the name “Hilo Hattie.” She took the name legally when she performed in the movie Song of the Islands (1941).

In the late-1930s until well into the 1950s, Hilo Hattie performed all across the mainland in Hawaiian-themed nightclubs, which were popular at the time. She was in California when World War II broke out and performed for departing sailors in San Francisco. She went on to perform for the Red Cross, the USO, and troop hospitals, spending half of each year on the mainland.

Clara also performed on Honolulu radio station KPOA, on the (Harry) Owens/Hilo Hattie Show and went on to perform on Owens’ television program and other televised variety shows. She also performed at the Tapa Room in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, at Canoes at the Ilikai, the Kahala Hilton, the Royal Hawaiian, and the Moana Surfrider.

Hilo Hattie appeared in two episodes of Hawaii Five-0: as Tommy Kapali’s mother in “Strangers in Our Own Land” (Season 1) and as next-door neighbor, Mrs. Pruitt, in “The Late John Louisiana” (Season 3).

In 1971, at the Merrie Monarch festival in Hilo, Clara was approached by Evelyn and Richard Margolis, who wanted to design and sell Hawaiian clothing under the name of Hilo Hattie. She thus lent her name to the shop of aloha attire and souvenirs. A hybrid orchid was named for her. She was awarded the Hawaii Aloha Award and honored with a benefit by the March of Dimes. The State of Hawaii honored her, as well.

Clara and her (second) husband, Carlyle Nelson, retired to their home in Kaaawa. She passed

away on December 12, 1979.

Alan Naluai

Alan Naluai appeared in five episodes between 1968 and 1977. He also appeared in McCloud and The Hawaiians.

Naluai is best remembered as a member of the musical group, The Surfers, with whom he played for more than 20 years. Advertiser columnist Wayne Harada wrote that Naluai’s “onstage hilarity…often belied his vocal prowess.”[2] Even when he was playing heavies on Five-0, there was a hint of comedy in his facial expressions.

In addition to performing with The Surfers, Naluai wrote music; he was completing an album of his compositions at the time of his death. He also sold real estate.

Naluai died of a heart attack on March 10, 2001, at the age of 62.

Bob Sevey

Robert W. (Bob) Sevey, news anchor and news director at television station KGMB in Honolulu, passed away in Olympia, Washington, on February 20, 2009. He was 81 years old. Sevey will be remembered by most of us for his appearances in nine episodes of Hawaii Five-0, in some of which he portrayed himself.

Sevey was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on December 16, 1927. Rather than work his way up to television journalism through the print media, he began his career in radio and advertising in Phoenix, Arizona. He joined the KGMB news team in 1954 and became known as “The Walter Cronkite of the Pacific.” He earned that title with his professional, highly respected delivery of the news.

Many journalists and communications specialists in Hawaii today learned their craft from Sevey. One of his protégés is now a judge, while another heads communications for Hawaii Public Television. All honored him at a reunion dinner he attended with them in Kailua, Oahu, in September 2008. His critics faulted him for being “old school,” preferring to hire male anchors than female ones. When a mainland firm bought out the station and demanded that he make the changes that news teams were making to their programs and delivery in 1986, Sevey decided he had had enough and left KGMB and newscasting.

He helped Cecil Landau Heftel, former KGMB owner, in his unsuccessful bid for governor in 1986 and made advertisements on behalf of Hawai`i Airlines. In 1989, he left Hawaii and moved to Washington state. Sevey was succeeded by his wife, Rosalie, and two sons.

Les Keiter

Les Keiter was born on April 27, 1919, in Seattle, Washington, and attended the University of Washington. He married Lila Hamerslough Keiter. The couple had five children and eight grandchildren. While still newlyweds, Les and Lila Keiter moved to Hawaii, where Les did baseball recreations.

In the 1950s, Les moved to the mainland, where he served as sportscaster at several television stations during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1968, he announced Olympics coverage in Mexico City for Mutual Radio. He returned to Hawaii and began announcing the sports at KHON in the late-1960s.

Les appeared in 9 episodes (one source says 14 episodes) of H50. He was given the nickname “The General” by Joe Moore after he portrayed generals in multiple episodes of Hawaii Five-0. He became a personal friend of Jack Lord.

Les Keiter’s autobiography, Fifty Years Behind the Microphone, was formally added to the Special Collection at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, on June 6, 1998.

After retiring from sportscasting, he served as the media relations coordinator for the Aloha Stadium. He was a member of the Honolulu Quarterback Club. He also was inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame and the Big 5 Hall of Fame.

Les Keiter died on April 14, 2009, at the age of 89, in Kailua, Oahu.

Morgan White

Morgan White portrayed Attorney General Walter Stewart in six episodes during Season 1. His character was a prosecuting attorney in the Navy, while Steve McGarrett was a naval intelligence officer. It was Stewart who suggested that Governor Paul Jameson hire Steve McGarrett to head Five-0.

White, who began his career as a rock-and-roll disc jockey in Denver, was affiliated with KGMB (CBS) television and radio. For many years, he portrayed Pogo Poge on the children's program Checkers & Pogo, winning his way into the hearts of many island children.

White passed away September 3, 2010, at his home in Utah. He was 86 years old.

Nephi Hannemann

Nephi Hanneman, the tall, strapping brother of Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, graduated from Farrington High School in Kalihi, Oahu. He was playing football for the University of Hawaii - Manoa when he took a dare to sing at a Don Ho show. That led to his performing in hotels and nightclubs in Waikiki, singing to tourists as “Mr. Polynesian Man.” He and his friend Lani Kai were putting together an album when Kai died.

He was first seen on Five-0 as AWOL sailor John Mala in “Run, Johnny. Run” (Season 2). Similarly, in “Is This Any Way to Run a Paradise?” (Season 4), he acted in the name of the Hawaiian god Kahili break the law in protest against ecological wrongs. In all, he appeared in eleven episodes between 1969 and 1979.

Hannemann appeared in the television series McCloud, Barnaby Jones, Disneyland, and One West Waikiki. In One West Waikiki, he moved to the other side of the law, portraying a detective.

Hannemann also joined two partners to create the Maui Quarterly and served as the advertising director and main writer of the business and travel magazine. He was a spokesman for The Polynesian Man healthcare products.

Nephi Hannemann passed away on March 31, 2018.

Remi Abellira

Remi Abellira was a child actor, who grew up on the set of Hawaii Five-0. He began as Poto, who washed windshields and helped Five-0 identify the man who planted the dynamite in McGarrett’s car in “Blind Tiger” (Season 2). Although he went on to appear in other episodes, he will always be Poto in my eyes. I like Poto.

Of his years on Five-0, Remi wrote on KD McGarrett’s Petition Spot: New Hawaii Five-0, "I was very blessed to have had a personal relationship with Jack Lord, James MacArthur, [and] producers Lenny Freeman and Bill Finnegan, as well as all the cast members of Hawaii 5-0."

Born on August 13, 1957, Abellira appeared in eight episodes of Hawaii Five-0. In addition, he appeared as the King Kamehameha Club’s “Moki” in six episodes of Magnum, PI and as a punk in an episode of Jake and the Fatman.

Douglas Mossman

Doug Mossman appeared on 27 episodes of Hawaii Five-0. He also appeared on other shows, including Hawaiian Eye and Magnum, PI. He, along with Esperanza Isaacs, hired sculptor Lynn Weiler Liverton and erected a bronze bust in Jack’s memory at Kahala Mall.

He passed away on May 18, 2021, in Ewa, Oahu.

[1] Wilcox, Leslie. “Jimmy Borges: The First Verse” in Long Story Short. PBS: Hawaii. February 21 [year not given].

[2] Harada, Wayne. “Alan Naluai of the Surfers Dead at 62” in The Honolulu Advertiser. March 14, 2001.