Hula dancer Manu Bentley, who danced at Don the Beachcomber, Hotel Lexington in New York and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s Monarch Room, received a call from actor Robert Wagner on Saturday wishing her a happy 84th birthday. Four days before her birthday, Tom Selleck called Manu to check how she was doing recovering from shoulder replacement surgery in May. Manu’s husband is Lon Bentley, who has done makeup for Wagner and Selleck.
In the 1950s, Manu and then-knife-dancer Kui Lee performed at the Hotel Lexington’s Polynesian Room. The duo later produced the show. Kui went on to become one of Hawaii’s legendary composers. He penned "I’ll Remember You," "Days of My Youth," "Ain’t No Big Thing" and other songs first made famous by Don Ho. Elvis Presley sang "I’ll Remember You" in his 1973 "Aloha From Hawaii" concert. Kui died young, at age 34, in 1966 of cancer, a big loss for Hawaii …
Birthday greetings also go out to Manu’s friend Faye Brash Parker, whose birthday was also Saturday …
RESTAURATEUR Randy Schoch, a former owner of Nick’s Fishmarket Waikiki and the Black Orchid restaurants, hosted a "Best of Times" reunion for former employees Monday at Ruth’s Chris Steak House at Waterfront Plaza. "We had a lot of talented individuals working at our restaurants, and I am pleased that many of our employees have had successful careers in the hospitality industry," Randy said. Among former employees working on the reunion were Morton’s Ala Moana GM Zyron Schoniwitz, David Nagaishi, who runs Ocean House/Shore Bird in the Outrigger Reef, his wife, Wendy, and Ben Dowling, Elks Club GM. Guests attending were Danny Kaleikini, Carole Kai, Frank De Lima, Rolando Sanchez, Ginai and Melinda Caroll. In addition to Randy, Tom Selleck and Larry Manetti of "Magnum P.I." and Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen were Black Orchid owners …
ACTOR Chris Pratt, 35, the offbeat guy on Amy Poehler‘s "Parks and Recreation," who stars in Marvel Studio’s "Guardians of the Galaxy" opening Aug. 1 and will appear in "Jurassic World" next year, is called "the next movie star" by Entertainment Weekly. In its July 18 edition the magazine says that before his acting career got rolling, Pratt, then 19, visited a friend in Hawaii and lived in a van and on a beach. While working at Bubba Gump’s in Lahaina, he received his big break after serving actress-movie producer Rae Dawn Chong, who later cast him in "Cursed Part III." (It was filmed in L.A. but never released.) That opened the door for him to be cast in TV shows and pictures, including "Wanted" with Angelina Jolie, "Moneyball" with Brad Pitt and "Take Me Home Tonight." In "Tonight" he met Anna Faris, star of the CBS-TV hit "Mom," who is now his wife. In 2009 he landed the role of the boyfriend of Rashida Jones‘ character in NBC’s "Parks and Recreation" …
HAWAII’S Dr. Wynn Okuda has been named an accredited fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Okuda’s clients have included Brooke Lee, Kanoe and Maila Gibson, Trini Kaopuiki, Aureana Tseu, Glenn Medeiros, Howard Dashefsky and Ben Vegas …
Ben Wood, who sold newspapers on Honolulu streets in World War II, writes of people, places and things. Email him at bwood@staradvertiser.com.
