Kwan Hi Lim was a Korean-American character actor. He is best known for his role as Lt. Tanaka in the 1980 television series Magnum, P.I.
Biography[]
A native of Hawaii, he was one of the many locals who have been used in TV series and movies that took place on the islands. Lim appeared frequently on the TV series Hawaii Five-O, where he primarily portrayed villains. He was known to many as the recurring character Lt. Yoshi Tanaka of the Honolulu Police Department on Magnum, P.I.
Lim had worked as an attorney since 1953, retiring in the 1990s. Lim had an office on the third floor of an old mixed-use office building on King Street in the Chinatown section of Honolulu. He once was asked why he always played the "bad guy" in the Hawaii Five-O series. He attributed it to "the way I squint my eyes, I just look evil." He landed his first television role in his 40s when he was flirting with some tourists after coming from surfing and a casting director from Hawaii Five-O spotted him. Lim never had any formal training throughout his acting career. After Magnum, P.I., he acted sporadically and was a per diem judge for the Family Court system in Honolulu.
Appearances[]
Original series episodes:
- Try to Remember
- Double Jeopardy
- Past Tense
- Luther Gillis: File No. 521
- The Case of the Red-Faced Thespian
- I Witness
- Blind Justice
- Tran Quoc Jones
- Luther Gillis: File No. 001
- Let Me Hear the Music
- Ms. Jones
- The Man from Marseilles
- Torah, Torah, Torah
- Round and Around
- The Treasure of Kalaniopu'u
- I Never Wanted to Go to France, Anyway
- Way of the Stalking Horse
- L.A.
- A.A.P.I.
- Death of the Flowers
- The Aunt Who Came to Dinner
- The People vs Orville Wright
- Limbo
- Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts
- Pleasure Principle
- Tigers Fan