MARCH 19, 1919

NATIVE HAWAIIAN BARITONE ALFRED AHOLO APAKA BORN— “THE GOLDEN VOICE OF HAWAII”

Alfred, born in Honolulu, was an athlete, singer, and ROTC cadet captain at Roosevelt High School. With his strong baritone voice, orchestra leader Don McDiarmid Sr. hired him in 1938 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Apaka also traveled to New York performing with Ray Kinney. Returning to the Royal, he was a featured singer on the Hawaii Calls radio program which led to a gig in 1951 with the Moana Serenaders at the Moana Hotel. He moved on to Don the Beachcomber’s, where Bob Hope ‘discovered’ him in 1952 and took him to Hollywood for his TV show. He appeared twice on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1957 and in December 1959 on the Dinal Shore Show. Most people first saw Alfred during his engagement at the Hawaiian Village’s Tapa Room. Apaka, who had become one of Hawaii’s best-known entertainers, died suddenly on January 30, 1960, in Honolulu. Awards: Hawaiian Music & Hawaii Hospitality Halls of Fame (1995 & 2009); Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award (1997).

Sources:

Alfred Apaka, Squareone.  Retrieved 11/12/2022, Alfred Apaka (squareone.org)

Wikipedia

Photo: Jeff Kubina, 8/15/1995. Permissive Use pursuant to Creative Commons license.