Professor Tanaka
Professor Tanaka | |
---|---|
Birth name | Charles J. Kalani Jr. |
Born | Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. | January 6, 1930
Died | August 22, 2000[1] Lake Forest, California, U.S. | (aged 70)
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Professor Tanaka Professor Toru Tanaka |
Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2] |
Billed weight | 280 lb (130 kg)[2] |
Billed from | Hiroshima, Japan[2] |
Debut | 1958 |
Retired | 1986 |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service | 1955-1966 |
Rank | Sergeant |
Charles J. Kalani Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American
Early life
Kalani was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of Charles J. Kalani and Christina Leong Kalani. Charlie began studying judo in 1939. He graduated from Iolani School in 1949.[4] His wife, Doris Kalani, later credited Kalani's time on the football team and Kenneth A. Bray's influence with keeping him away from trouble.[5] After graduating from high school, Kalani attended Weber Junior College (now Weber State University), where he met his wife in 1952.[5] Together, they had three children: Cheryle Kalani, Carl Kalani, and Karen Kalani Beck. He also played college football at the University of Utah.[6]
In 1955, Kalani was drafted into the
Professional wrestling career
Kalani got into professional wrestling in 1958, making his debut in his home state of Hawaii during his service with the military.
In 1966 after retiring from the military, Kalani began wrestling full time. He worked for World Championship Wrestling in Australia.
One of the characteristics of Kalani's wrestling gimmick was that he threw ceremonial salt in his opponents' eyes after "blessing" each corner of the ring, a tactic that is most commonly associated with Japanese villain wrestlers.[9] Kalani did play the stereotypical Japanese villain with the requisite knowledge of martial arts. He employed a combination of power skills, martial arts, and his feared Japanese sleeper submission hold. Kalani's most famous tag team partner was Harry Fujiwara (better known as Mr. Fuji), whom he knew from high school in Hawaii. In his book, Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks, Freddie Blassie explored the relationship between the two "Japanese" heels.
From Tanaka's point of view, he was passing time with Fuji because it made sense to team up with another Japanese villain. The two certainly had no great admiration for one another. Tanaka was a by-the-book guy, who looked at wrestling as a means to make a living. He wanted to work his match, shake hands with everyone afterwards, and save some money. He was a professional.
If you wanted to talk about an angle beforehand, you always went to Tanaka. He was the ring general, who'd lead everyone else in the match. Fuji was certainly a good performer, but you couldn't control him. So, in addition to worrying about their opponents, Tanaka had the responsibility of making sure that Fuji didn't get out of hand. I guess he did a pretty good job because, years later, when Tanaka was relegated to working these tiny independent shows to earn a few extra bucks, Fuji himself had become a manager.— Freddie Blassie, Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks
Tanaka had a long successful run with the
After WWWF, Tanaka returned to Japan, Hawaii and other territories until retiring in 1986.
Other media
Professor Tanaka was also featured in a television commercial for a brand of rice in Puerto Rico. His other appearance in a commercial was for Colgate toothpaste with Pat Morita. Tanaka was seen as an extra in a few of David Lee Roth's music videos in the mid-1980s.
By the early 1980s, Kalani's body could not handle the beatings in the ring any longer, and he moved into the film world on a more permanent basis. His first film was the 1981 Chuck Norris vehicle An Eye for an Eye and his last film was 1995's Hard Justice (starring David Bradley and Charles Napier). He appeared opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Running Man as "Professor Subzero", the red-armor clad "stalker" who is a sadistic hockey-samurai with a scythe that "slices his enemies limb from limb into quivering, bloody sushi". Other notable roles include Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, The Perfect Weapon, 3 Ninjas and Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
Tanaka was one of three semi-retired professional wrestlers to compete in a
Death
Kalani died of heart failure on August 22, 2000. He was given a full military funeral.[9]
Filmography
- 1981 An Eye for an Eye as "The Professor"
- 1981-1982 Fantasy Island (season 5/episode 20) as Magog
- 1982 Little House on the Prairie (A new beginning; "Alden's Dilemma" Season 9 aired first on December 6, 1982) as Japanese Sumo (uncredited)
- 1983 Angel Of H.E.A.T.
- 1983 Off the Wall as Banzai Wrestler #1
- 1983 Revenge of the Ninja as Sumo Servant
- 1984 The A-Team (TV Series) as Ling, The Bodyguard
- 1984 Chattanooga Choo Choo as Hashimoto
- 1985 Missing in Action 2: The Beginning as Lao
- 1985 Pee-wee's Big Adventure as The Butler[2][9]
- 1985 Volunteers as Sumo Guard
- 1986 The A-Team - The Spy Who Mugged Me as Fröbe
- 1986 Bad Guys as Lord Percy's Bodyguard
- 1986 Shanghai Surprise as Yamagani San
- 1987 Catch The Heat as Dozu
- 1987 The Running Man as "Professor Subzero"[2]
- 1988 Dead Heat as "The Butcher"
- 1989 Tax Season
- 1989 Hyper Space as The Android
- 1989 Black Rainas Sugai's Bodyguard
- 1990 Darkman as Chinese Warrior #2
- 1990 Martial Law as Jimmy Kong
- 1991 The Perfect Weapon as Tanaka
- 1991 Alligator II: The Mutation as Joe "Tokyo Joe", The Wrestler
- 1991 Deadly Game as Ikiru-Sun
- 1992 3 Ninjas as Rushmore
- 1993 Last Action Hero as Tough Asian Man[2]
- 1995 Hard Justice as "Cookie" (uncredited)
Championships and accomplishments
- 50th State Big Time Wrestling
- 1 time)
- All-California Championship Wrestling
- ACCW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Peter Maivia Jr.[10]
- California Pro Wrestling
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- Continental Wrestling Association
- Mr. Fuji
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
- NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Macon Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Assassin #2 (1) and Mr. Fuji (1)
- L&G Promotions
- National Wrestling Alliance
- Northeast Championship Wrestling (Tom Janette)
- NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[10]
- NWA Big Time Wrestling
- NWA Hollywood Wrestling
- NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dr. Hiro Ota
- NWA New Zealand
- Southeastern Championship Wrestling
- NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mr. Fuji
- World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
- 2 times)
- 1 time) - with Skull Murphy
- World Wide Wrestling Federation/WWE
1Records do not show which NWA affiliate Tanaka worked for when his two reigns with the title began. While usually defended in Southeastern Championship Wrestling, it was occasionally used in other promotions.
References
- ^ "Charlie Kalani, 70, Remembered As Versatile Actor". Classic Wrestling Articles. December 26, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ "Charley Kalani". Boxrec Boxing Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
- ^ Alumni Making Headlines (April 2006). "The Professor Toru Tanaka (Charles Kalani '49) Remembered". Iolani School website. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013.
- ^ a b Ohira, Rod (September 15, 2000). "Charlie Kalani, 70, remembered as versatile actor". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
- ^ "Charlie Kalani". cougarstats.com. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
- ^ "Professor Tanaka Death". Wrestler Deaths. December 31, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
- OCLC 301504187.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-06-001258-8.
- ^ ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "NWA United States Heavyweight Title (1967-1968/05) - American Heavyweight Title (1968/05-1986/02)". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-9698161-5-7.
- ^ "N.W.A. American Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "Texas Brass Knucks Title [East Texas]". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
- ^ WWWF/WWF International Tag Team Title History
- ^ "TEN NEW WWE HALL OF FAME LEGACY INDUCTEES - PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
External links
- Professor Toru Tanaka on WWE.com
- Professor Tanaka at IMDb
- Professor Tanaka's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com , Internet Wrestling Database
- Charlie Kalani at the Danzan-ryu Jujitsu Homepage