Mark Dacascos

Photo of Mark Dacascos

Biography

Born on Feb. 26, 1964 in Honolulu, HI, Dacascos was raised in a martial arts home by his father, Al, a former kung fu champion and founder of the Wun Hop Kuen Do fighting style, and his mother, Moriko, one of Al's students. When he was around six years old, the family moved to Denver, CO, where Dacascos began his formal martial arts training. A year later, he was competing in his first tournaments. At 11 years old, the family moved to …
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Job Title

Actor, Physical Effects

Born

Mark Alan Dacascos on February 26, 1964 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Career Milestones

Portrayed a young Conan and a barbarian warrior in the Universal Studios tour in Los Angeles

Until age six, spent majority of time with maternal grandparents in Hawaii

1970

Moved to Denver and began his Martial Arts training at an early age under the tutelage of his parents

1971

Competed in his first martial arts tournament at seven

1975

Moved to Hamburg, Germany with his family at age 11

1981

At age 17, traveled to Taiwan to study Mandarin and Shaolin Kung Fu

1982

Named European Kung Fu Champion in the lightweight category

1985

Cast in first film, Wayne Wang's "Dim Sum: A Little bit of Heart"; scenes ended up on the cutting room floor

1987

First TV appearance, played a police cadet in ABC's daytime drama, "General Hospital"

1990

Made feature acting debut in "Angel Town"

1991

Played a karate teacher in the TNT movie, "Dead on the Money"

1993

First starring role in a feature film, "Only the Strong"

1995

First collaboration with director Christophe Gans, "Crying Freeman"

1996

Had a supporting role in the remake of "The Island of Dr. Moreau"

1998

Played the lead role of Eric Draven in the syndicated series, "The Crow: Stairway to Heaven"; role originally played by Brandon Lee in the 1994 film "The Crow"

1999

Acted with Martin and Charlie Sheen in "No Code of Conduct"; aired on the USA Network in lieu of a theatrical release

2000

Played a supporting role in "China Strike Force"

2001

Re-teamed with Christophe Gans for "Le Pacte des loups / Brotherhood of the Wolf"

2003

Joined Jet Li and DMX for the thriller, "Cradle 2 the Grave"

2005

Portrays 'the Chairman' on Food Network's television series, "Iron Chef America"

2007

Had a supporting role, opposite Cedric the Entertainer, in the comedy "Code Name: The Cleaner"

2009

Joined the ninth season of ABC's reality series "Dancing with the Stars" as a competitor

2010

Joined the cast of the CBS remake, "Hawaii Five-0" as supervillain Wo Fat