Taylor Wily, the former sumo wrestler who was a scene-stealer in the “Hawaii Five-0” reboot and projects such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” died on Thursday at 56 years old. No cause of death has yet been revealed.
The news was confirmed by local Hawaiian news station KITV, as well as Instagram posts from “Hawaii Five-0” executive producer Peter M. Lenkov.
On KITV, Lina Girl Langi announced the news during her show “Island Life Live” on Thursday.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of the passing of a Hawaii celebrity who was also a family friend,” Langi said. “Taylor Wily, former wrestler, MMA fighter and actor passed away today in Hurricane, Utah.”
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“I am devastated. Heartbroken. I’ll post some detailed feelings later. Just too hard right now,” Lenkov wrote, alongside of a picture with Wily, on June 20. He followed it with another post of a photo montage and wrote, “T, as I told you many times, I fell in love with you at the first audition. You came in with a towel on your head mopping up sweat, and I was smitten. You charmed me into making you a regular… on the show… and in my life. You were family. And I will miss you every day, brother. PS: when we spoke last week, we laughed at how right you were from Day 1. ‘Five-0’ was our dream job. And I was so lucky we got to share that magic together.”
Wily appeared on 171 episodes of “Hawaii Five-0” as Kamekona Tupuola, and played the role in episodes of other rebooted series such as “MacGyver” and “Magnum P.I.”
Wily was born Teila Tuli on June 14, 1968 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Before acting, Wily competed in sumo, UFC and MMA matches, where he was known for his intimidating 450-pound frame.
Paul S. Almond, Wily’s entertainment lawyer, told Variety that the actor was well-known for his positive attitude and love for his community.
“Taylor was one of the nicest human beings of anybody out there,” Almond said.
Wily is survived by his wife Halona and their two children.