It was said that Waikiki entertainer Alfred Apaka sang every song from his heart. When the handsome baritone sang, he took his audiences to the most romantic corners of the Islands. Reviewers called him the golden voice of Hawai'i.
One of six children, Apaka was born in 1919 in Honolulu. His family moved to Moloka'i when he was a young boy so his father could run a trucking business. But the elder Apaka sent his children back to Honolulu two years later after learning that youth on the island shunned the younger Apaka because his English was too good.
His singing career began right after graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1938.
Apaka was hired by band leader Don McDiarmid Sr. at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and his beautiful voice earned him $30 a week. He followed that with three years in New York City with fellow Hawai'i entertainer Ray Kinney before returning to Hawai'i.
In 1952, Bob Hope saw Apaka at Don the Beachcomber's and hired him to perform on his radio and TV shows.
But this was all prelude to the spine-tingling shows he gave in Waikiki in the late 1950s.
Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser met Apaka in 1955 and was so taken with the singer that he gave him the greatest showcase of his career: the Tapa Room at Kaiser's new Hawaiian Village Hotel.
Apaka sang there until his death, always wearing his white sharkskin outfit and red carnation lei. He was the hotel's resident star and a must-see entertainer for thousands of Waikiki tourists.
Apaka also recorded seven albums on the Decca label and was poised to sign a deal for his own national TV show when he died.
On Jan. 30, 1960, Apaka was playing handball with friends at the Central YMCA on Atkinson when he suddenly collapsed. A massive heart attack was said to have killed him instantly. He was 40.
Correction: Singer Alfred Apaka did not wear a red sash when performing. A previous version of thist story said otherwise.
