Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) 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. Dacascos went on to continue the role in Iron Chef Australia. His other roles include: Eric Draven in The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Eubulon, the Advent Master, on 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. Starting with the episode "Hana 'a'a Makehewa", which first aired on December 13, 2010, he portrays the recurring character Wo Fat, Steve McGarrett's arch-nemesis, on Hawaii Five-0.

Dacascos competed in season 9 of Dancing with the Stars. His partner was Lacey Schwimmer. The pair was eliminated in the 7th episode.

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 stepmothers are award winning martial artist Malia Bernal and Hawaiian singer Melveen Leed. Dacascos attended Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, where he majored in Chinese and drama. Dacascos is proficient in Wun Hop Kuen Do, Capoeira, Wing chun, Shuai jiao, Karate, Jeet kune do and Muay thai.

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 (at that time, assistant director) and Rexall Chin (hairstylist) for director Wayne Wang. Though his first scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, he has gone on to establish a film and television career primarily playing martial artists. 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, which was a box office success in the United States. He also appeared in the short-lived but critically acclaimed television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, which was a follow-up to the 1994 film The Crow. One of his more recent roles is in the children's television show, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, where he portrays Advent Master Eubulon, mentor of the Kamen Riders and creator of the Advent Decks.

Dacascos' latest acting endeavor is on the CBS series, "Hawaii Five-0" in which he portrays the recurring role of "Wo Fat", an enemy of Steve McGarrett. He will also be taking on the role of Kung Lao in the second season of the YouTube series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other Notes
1985	Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart	n/a	Film (scenes deleted)
1990	Angel Town	Stoner Driver	Film
1991	Dead On The Money	Martial arts master	TV movie
1992	American Samurai	Kenjiro Sanga	Film
1993	Only The Strong	Louis Stevens	Film
1993	Roosters	Filipino's Son	Film (Cameo)
1994	Dragstrip Girl	Johnny Ramirez	TV movie
1994	Double Dragon	Jimmy Lee	Film
1995	Deadly Past	Leo	Film
1995	Kickboxer 5: The Redemption	Matt Reeves	Film
1995	Crying Freeman	Yo Hinomura/Freeman	Film
1996	The Island of Dr. Moreau	Lo-Mai	Film
1996	Sabotage	Michael Bishop	Film
1997	Sanctuary	Luke Kovak	Film
1997	DNA	Dr. Ash Mattley	Film
1997	Deathline (a.k.a. Redline)	Merrick	Film
1998	Drive	Toby Wong	Film
1998	Boogie Boy	Jesse Page	Film
1998	No Code of Conduct	Paul DeLucca	Film
1999	The Base	Maj. John Murphy/Cpl. John Dalton	Film
2000	China Strike Force (Lei ting zhan jing)	Tony Lau	Film
2001	Le Pacte des loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf)	Mani	Film
2001	Instinct To Kill (AKA The Perfect Husband)	J.T. Dillon	Film
2002	Scorcher	Ryan Beckett	Film
2003	Cradle 2 the Grave	Ling	Film
2005	Solar Strike (AKA Solar Attack) (USA)	Lucas Foster	TV movie
2005	Junior Pilot (aka Final Approach)	Kato	Film
2006	Only the Brave	Steve "Zaki" Senzaki	Film
2006	The Hunt for Eagle One	Lt. Matt Daniels	Video
2006	The Hunt for Eagle One: Crash Point	Lt. Matt Daniels	Video
2006	Nomad	Sharish	Film
2007	Code Name: The Cleaner	Eric Hauck	Film
2007	Alien Agent	Rykker	Film
2007	I Am Omega	Renchard	Film
2008	Gideon Falls	Set	Film
2009	Serbian Scars	Peter Olsen Obilich	Film
2010	Shadows in Paradise	Lt. Max Forrester	Film
2010	Action Hero	Writer	Film
2010	Secret of the Sultan		Film
2011	The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone	Cobra	Film
2013	Mortal Kombat: Legacy	Kung Lao	Second series

Television

Year	Title	Role	Episode/Notes
1987	General Hospital	Police cadet	TV series
1990	New Dragnet	Kevin Chow	TV series
1990	Doogie Howser, MD	Julian	Episode: "The Grass Ain't Always Greener"
1991	The Flash	Osaku	Episode: "Child's Play"
1992	Mighty Morphin Power Rangers	Victor Lee/Red Ranger	Galaxy Rangers Test Pilot
1994	Tales from the Crypt	Felix Johnson	Episode: "The Pit"
1995	One West Waikiki	Moku	Episode: "Rest in Peace"
1998"99	The Crow: Stairway to Heaven	Eric Draven	TV series
1999	Martial Law	Steven Garth	Episode: "Ninety Million Reasons to Die"
2002	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Ananda the Monk	Episode: "Felonious Monk"
2005"present	Iron Chef America: The Series	The Chairman	TV series
2007	Stargate Atlantis	Tyre	Episode: "Reunion"
2008	The Legend of Bruce Lee	Muay Thai boxer King Charles	TV series
2008	The Middleman	Sensei Ping	Episode: "The Sino-Mexican Revelation"
2008	Stargate Atlantis	Tyre	Episode: "Broken Ties"
2009	Kamen Rider Dragon Knight	Eubulon	Episodes: 32"40
2009	Dancing with the Stars	Himself/guest dancer	Episodes" 1-7
2009	Wolvesbayne	Von Griem	TV movie
2008"present	The Next Iron Chef	The Chairman	TV series
2010	Samurai	Himself	TV documentary
2010"present	Hawaii Five-0	Wo Fat	TV series
2010	Iron Chef Australia	The Chairman	TV series
2012	Iron Chef America Countdown	The Chairman	TV series

Awards

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films

Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient
2002	Nominated	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actor for: Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)

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