Charles "Charlie" J. Kalani, Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, college football player, soldier, actor, and Martial Artist who, in fighting rings under the ring names Professor Toru Tanaka and Professor Tanaka.
Early life[]
He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of Charles J. Kalani and Christina Leong Kalani (who was part Chinese). Charlie began studying judo at age nine. At Iolani School (class of 1949), he was a natural at many sports, and Doris Kalani credited his time on the football team with keeping him away from trouble. "He was a street kid getting into trouble and would have ended up in reform school if Father Kenneth A. Bray hadn't helped him out by bringing him to Iolani. He felt Iolani saved him," she told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
He left Hawaii for Utah's Weber Junior College (now Weber State University). On December 6, 1951, the Associated Press reported he received honorable mention for playing football at the University of Utah. It was at the University of Utah that he also met his wife Doris in 1952. On December 3, 1952 the Associated Press reported Kalani would become a professional boxer. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1955, Kalani rose to the rank of sergeant and excelled on the pistol team. For four years, the couple were stationed at a base in Nuremberg, Germany.
Professional wrestling career[]
One of the characteristics of Kalani's wrestling gimmick was that he threw salt in his opponents' eyes. Kalani's most famous tag team partner was Harry Fujiwara (better known as Mr. Fuji), whom he knew from high school in Hawaii. In his book, Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks, Freddie Blassie explored the relationship between the two "Japanese" heels.
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From Tanaka's point of view, he was passing time with Fuji because it made sense to team up with another Japanese villain. The two certainly had no great admiration for one another. Tanaka was a by-the-book guy, who looked at wrestling as a means to make a living. He wanted to work his match, shake hands with everyone afterwards, and save some money. He was a professional. If you wanted to talk about an angle beforehand, you always went to Tanaka. He was the ring general, who'd lead everyone else in the match. Fuji was certainly a good performer, but you couldn't control him. So, in addition to worrying about their opponents, Tanaka had the responsibility of making sure that Fuji didn't get out of hand. I guess he did a pretty good job because, years later, when Tanaka was relegated to working these tiny independent shows to earn a few extra bucks, Fuji himself had become a manager.
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Tanaka had a long successful run with the WWWF in the 1960s, including being #1 contender to champion Bruno Sammartino. In their first Madison Square Garden meeting, Tanaka was disqualified for throwing salt; was pinned by Sammartino in a rematch 6 months later. Tanaka also main evented the Garden in tag matches, twice with Gorilla Monsoon vs. Sammartino and Spyros Arion (Tanaka and his partner winning the first via disqualification; losing the second in a Texas Death Match); a year later with Monsoon against Sammartino and Victor Rivera. Monsoon & Tanaka had other Garden matches, including victories over Al Costello & Dr. Bill Miller; and Bobo Brazil and Earl Maynard.
Tanaka subsequently teamed with Mitsu Arakawa in the WWWF, acquiring the International Tagteam Championship; losing it at Madison Square Garden to Tony Marino and Victor Rivera.
Other media[]
Professor Tanaka was also featured in a television commercial for a brand of rice in Puerto Rico. His other appearance in a commercial was for Colgate toothpaste with Pat Morita. Tanaka was seen as an extra in a few of David Lee Roth's music videos in the mid-1980s.
By the early 1980s, Kalani's body could not handle the beatings in the ring any longer, and he moved into the film world on a more permanent basis. His first film was 1981's An Eye for an Eye and his last film was 1995's Hard Justice. He appeared in Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Running Man as a sadistic ice skating "Stalker" named Professor Subzero who had over 30 lifetime kills and "Slices his enemies limb from limb into quivering, bloody sushi.” He also appeared in Chuck Norris' Missing in Action 2: The Beginning and The Butler in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.
Tanaka was one of three semi-retired professional wrestlers to compete in a tug-of-war match with two other wrestlers teamed up against a large group of children on the Nickelodeon series Wild and Crazy Kids in the early 1990s.
Personal life[]
Kalani died of heart failure on August 22, 2000. He had a full military funeral.
Filmography[]
- An Eye for an Eye (1981)
- Angel Of H.E.A.T. (1982)
- Little House on the Prairie - A new beginning; "Alden's Dilemma" Season 9 aired first on December 6, 1982
- Revenge of the Ninja (1983)
- The A-Team - The Maltese Cow (1983)
- Off the Wall (1983)
- Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984)
- Volunteers (1985)
- Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
- Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985)
- The A-Team - The Spy Who Mugged Me (1986)
- Bad Guys (1986)
- Shanghai Surprise (1986)
- The Running Man (1987)
- Catch The Heat (1987)
- Dead Heat (1988)
- Black Rain (1989)
- Tax Season (1989)
- Darkman (1990)
- Martial Law (1990)
- Deadly Game (1991)
- The Perfect Weapon (1991)
- Alligator II: The Mutation (1991)
- 3 Ninjas (1992)
- Last Action Hero (1993)
- Hard Justice (1995)
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Wrestlers managed
Championships and accomplishments[]
- AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mr. Fuji
- NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Assassin #2 (1) and Mr. Fuji (1)
- NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) (2 times)1
- NWA American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Thunderbolt Patterson
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (2 times)
- NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dr. Hiro Ota
- NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions
- NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version) (1 time)
- NWA New Zealand
- NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mr. Fuji
- IWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Skull Murphy
- WWWF International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mitsu Arakawa
- WWWF World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Mr. Fuji
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2019)
1Records do not show which NWA affiliate Tanaka worked for when his two reigns with the title began. While usually defended in Southeastern Championship Wrestling, it was occasionally used in other promotions.
External links[]
Profile- Profile
- Professor Tanaka at the Internet Movie Database
