Posted at 11:08 a.m., Friday, June 29, 2001
Entertainment manager Kimo McVay dies at 73
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor
Kimo Wilder McVay, a long-time Hawai'i entrepreneur and talent manager who was as colorful as his clients, died today at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center. He was 73.
McVay was born in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 16, 1927.
He died about 2 a.m. today after battling cancer.
For nearly five decades, he managed an A-list of entertainers, including Don Ho, who gained international acclaim at McVay's Duke Kahanamoku's nightclub at the International Market Place.
His stable also included Tavana, the former star of a Polynesian revue at the Sheraton Moana Hotel; John Rowles, the Maori singer who headlined at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel's Monarch Room; Keola and Kapono Beamer, the brother act whose "Honolulu City Lights" became an anthem for all homesick Islanders; Andy Bumatai, one of Hawai'i's breakout stand-up comics; and Freddie Morris, the late singer-ventriloquist.
At the time of his death, McVay was managing magician John Hirokawa, the headliner of "Magic of Polynesia" at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel.
Ho, reached in Tacoma, Wash., where he performs this weekend, today said McVay "was an unforgettable character."
"They don't make it like him anymore," Ho said. "He was a one-of-a-kind. He would do things nobody else would do. He'd always remember people's birthdays. He was a good guy, who had a lot of hard times."
Ho recalled the time McVay brought Duke Kahanamoku to see him at Honey's in Waikiki, which led to the launching of Ho's career at the old Duke's nightclub. "It was a chance encounter that led to our early success, and you gotta know where you came from, you cannot forget that."
Bumatai likened McVay's entrepreneurial skills to those of the late manager of Elvis Presley, Col. Tom Parker. "I'm not sure any one of us would have gotten any attention without him making noise," Bumatai said. "He invented spin — before they gave it a name — and a little bit of Hawai'i dies with his passing. He was from another era; as Don Ho once told me, when I was griping about Kimo: 'Kimo is a phase.' He moved on to someone else. But he worked hard for everyone."
McVay's career had been a roller-coaster ride of alternating highs and lows. Client relationships would sour, but he had the tenacity to seek out another act. In a changing Waikiki, he managed to be a survivor, because of an unending source of goofy ideas.
When he needed a gimmick, he put on the Roach Bowl at Blaisdell Arena, conducting cockroach races as if they were horse races, hitching the event to client Bumatai's rising star. When ventriloquist Morris was replacing a traditional dummy doll with a dark-skinned Polynesian version, McVay dubbed the new blockhead Moku Kahana, after Duke Kahanamoku, the father of Hawaiian surfing who had been a long-time friend and for whom the nightclub was named.
The entertainment community relished his inventive surprise-filled opening-night parties and outrageous birthday gifts, which could be a bejeweled toilet plunger with a witty note attached.
"They just don't make 'em like him anymore," said Tom Moffatt, veteran show producer and radio personality and a long-time friend of McVay.
McVay had been diagnosed with prostate cancer a couple of years ago and had undergone chemotherapy the past year. Apparently, the cancer quickly spread to his pancreas.
"It's all happened so fast," said his wife, Betsy McVay.
McVay was as much of a celebrity as some of his clients and he also had several aliases — Knuckles McVay, when he manned the keyboards in St. Patrick's Day celebrations at the old Columbia Inn on Kapi'olani Boulevard, and the Baron of Waikiki, when he briefly operated a lounge bearing that pseudonym at the Reef Hotel.
He was an old-school publicity wizard, who put a buzz on any activity he engineered. His heyday was the Hawai'i of the1960s and '70s, when he operated the old Duke Kahanamoku's nightclub where folks lined up to applaud and cheer an upstart young Hawaiian talent named Don Ho, backed by The Aliis, amid a celebrity clientele hoisting mai tai glasses emblazoned with "Suck 'em Up," which became collector's items and take-home souvenirs.
McVay was the master of hyperbole and a genius at promotion in a time when entertainment ruled along the Kalakaua Avenue strip. He dubbed the Beamers as "Hawai'i's Youngest Legends" and tagged Bumatai as "Hawai'i's First Stand-Up Comic."
Although he often quarreled with his clients, he succeeded in putting them on the map. He became obsolete when showrooms started to close, but he downsized accordingly, seeking refuge with smaller acts performing in lounges.
McVay had a keen eye and a sharp ear for discovering talent. Early in his management career, he plucked then-Punahou School student Robin Luke, who had written and recorded a song about his little sister, entitled "Susie Darlin'," and got local deejays and TV stations to air the song and expose the tune. Result: "Susie Darlin'" became a Top 10 hit nationally and gave Luke — and Hawai'i — 15 minutes of fame.
He was born in Washington, D.C., and was the son of the late Kinau Wilder, a grand dame of Island theater and a prominent figure in Island society, and the controversial Capt. Charles Butler McVay III, who was the commanding officer in 1945 when the USS Indianapolis was struck by a Japanese torpedo, causing the ship to sink about 600 miles southwest of Guam after ferrying an atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian. Only 316 of the Indy's crew of 1,196 survived in shark-infested waters and Capt. McVay was found guilty of negligence, ultimately committing suicide.
Kimo McVay's life-long efforts to clear the name of his father finally happened last year, when the commander was cleared of guilt through congressional action, 55 years after the incident.
"It doesn't really change history, but it certainly will let the world know that my father was innocent and will give some comfort to the survivors themselves," McVay said after the exoneration.
For his unflagging dedication and contributions to show business, McVay in 1999 earned a Lifetime Achievement Na Hoku Hanohano Award from the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts. Though not a recording artist or active musician, his contributions in talent management, publicity, promotion and bookings were recognized.
He was looking forward to his 74th birthday Sept. 16, said Betsy McVay. "He wanted to throw a big party, invite everyone."
Betsy, a well-known Island actress several decades ago, has been living with multiple sclerosis and McVay tended to care-giving duties while doing his own managerial chores.
Other survivors are two daughters, Lindsay Roberson of Honolulu, and Melissa Mateo of Hacienda Heights, Calif; five grandchildren, Kim, Judd, Robin and Ryan Mateo, and Ashley Kinau Roberson; and a brother, Charles Butler McVay IV.
Services are pending.
