R.I.P. Mako

R.I.P. Mako
Originally uploaded by macslost.

I became a fan of Mako when I was very little. With repeated viewings of The Island at the Top of the World on both TV and the Read-Along book & record, to this day I catch myself muttering "They come, they come, we go" from time to time when taking my leave of places.

Mako was 'that guy' in tons and tons of TV shows and movies. When I finally did learn his name, I was impressed. 'Mako', one word, like the shark. That's it. That was awesome.

The funny thing is that while I know who he is, if I didn't check imdb, I would only be able to say that he was in Pearl Harbor (pictured) and 'Island'. Upon further exploration, he had a guest starring role on pretty much every popular TV show of the 60's, 70's and 80's, all of which I saw, since my childhood was made up largely of reruns from these decades.

He was in I Dream of Jeanie, McHale's Navy, Gidget, I Spy, The Green Hornet, F Troop, The Time Tunnel, The Big Valley, Hawaii 5-O, Wonder Woman, Kung Fu, Mannix, The Incredible Hulk, Columbo, MASH, Fantasy Island, The Facts of Life, Spencer For Hire, Quincy M.E., Voyagers!, Magnum P.I., The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Tour of Duty, and The Equalizer.

His movie role appearances were just as wide. Of my favorites were Under the Rainbow ( a CLASSIC, still unreleased on DVD. seriously, it's Chevy Chase investigating a murder on the set of Wizard of Oz. which means tons and tons of midgets, Billy Barty of course being one of them. the villain to be exact.) and of course both Conan the Barbarian & Destroyer as the mad wizard Akiro.

The nineties were not as kind to Mako, leaving him to things like Robocop 3, Highlander 3, Sidekicks and some TV appearances on Frasier and JAG. Entering the new millennium at the age of 67 his appearances became spread over time in such things as Samurai Jack, Monk, Walker, Texas Ranger, Charmed, 7th Heaven, Duck Dodgers and The West Wing and a few films including Pearl Harbor, Bulletproof Monk and Memoirs of a Geisha.

Needless to say, the man was mighty and was a large part of my childhood, oddly enough.

He will be missed.