# Kalai Strode

Woodrow Wilson Kalaeloa Strode (December 16, 1946 – November 27, 2014) was a native Hawaiian assistant director in film and television from the early 1970s to around 2010. In film he worked on North Dallas Forty. In television he worked regularly in the series Diagnosis Murder. He also was an actor, writer and composer.

## Background

He was born on December 16, 1946, in Hollywood, California. He was of African and self-identified Native American ancestry (Cherokee and Muscogee) from his father's side. On his mother's side he was of Native Hawaiian descent. His father was professional football player and actor, Woody Strode. His mother was princess Luukialuana Kalaeloa who had done some work in films and was a hula dancer. She was also a descendant of Hawaii's last queen. He had a sister Junelehua (a.k.a. June) who was born in 1948. He also had two half-brothers. One was Hawaiian actor and entertainer, Lani Kai. The other was Hawaiian actor Lee Woodd.

## Film career
### 1970s

He graduated from the Los Angeles Assistant Directors Training Program.
In 1971 he had a role in The Gatling Gun as the Indian Who Shoots Sneed. He was also in the credits as a stuntman in the film In the mid 1970s he was a co-writer for the western film Winterhawk. Later in the 1970s, he worked under director Richard Lang as second assistant director for the pilot episode of Fantasy Island that aired in January 1977.

### 1980s

In the early 1980s, he was assistant director in the John Schlesinger directed comedy film Honky Tonk Freeway which starred Beverly D'Angelo, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy and Beau Bridges. In 1985, he was assistant director in the made for television drama, Challenge of a Lifetime which was directed by Russ Mayberry, and starred Penny Marshall and Richard Gilliland. In 1988, he worked on the set of the film For Keeps.

### 1990s

In 1991, he was assistant director in three episodes of Tales from the Crypt, Loved to Death, Abra Cadaver and Mournin' Mess. He was assistant director in the Randall M. Miller directed 1992 comedy Class Act which starred Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin. From 1994 to 1998 he worked in five seasons of episodes for television series Diagnosis Murder which starred Dick Van Dyke.

### 2000s

In 2001, having completed his work on Diagnosis Murder, he and his wife Pam moved to Honolulu. He still did some work as assistant director but also worked in transportation for movies. His wife worked in the TV series Lost for six seasons as a stand in actress. In 2010 he worked on the film Deady Honeymoon that starred Summer Glau. In 2011, he had a role as Wali in the Ua Lawe Wale episode of the Hawaii Five-0 series remake. Both of his half brothers, Lani Kai and Lee Woodd had appeared in the original series of Hawaii Five-O. Post 2011, he underwent a physical examination as part of pre-employment for The River, which was shot in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. The examination resulted in a diagnosis of mantle cell lymphoma.

## Filmography

Film :
| Title | Role | Director | Year | Notes # |
| The Gatling Gun | Actor: Indian Who Shoots Sneed, Stunts: stunt archer | Robert Gordon | 1971 | |
| Winterhawk | Writer | Charles B. Pierce | 1975 | |
| A Piece of the Action | DGA trainee | Sidney Poitier | 1977 | |
| The One and Only | Trainee assistant director | Carl Reiner | 1978 | |
| Thank God It's Friday | Trainee assistant director | Robert Klane | 1978 | |
| Rainbow | Second assistant director | Jackie Cooper | 1978 | TV movie |
| The Immigrants | DGA trainee | Alan J. Levi | 1978 | TV movie |
| Suddenly, Love | Second assistant director | Stuart Margolin | 1978 | TV movie |
| A Woman Called Moses | DGA trainee | Paul Wendkos | 1978 | TV movie |
| Samurai | Second assistant director | Lee H. Katzin | 1979 | TV movie |
| North Dallas Forty | Second assistant director | Ted Kotcheff | 1979 | TV movie |
| Up the Academy | Second assistant director | Robert Downey Sr. | 1980 | |
| Bustin' Losse | First assistant director: second unit | Oz Scott, Michael Schultz | 1981 | |
| Honky Tonk Freeway | Second assistant director | John Schlesinger | 1981 | |
| When I Am King | Second assistant director | Wanda Appleton | 1981 | |
| Challenge of a Lifetime | Second assistant director | Russ Mayberry | 1985 | TV movie |
| Gidget's Summer Reunion | Second assistant director | Bruce Bilson | 1985 | |
| The Lost Boys | Second assistant director: second unit | Joel Schumacher | 1987 | as Woody K. Strode |
| For Keeps? | Second assistant director | John G. Avildsen | 1988 | |
| House Party | Assistant director | Reginald Hudlin | 1990 | as Kelly St. Rode |
| Phantom | Second assistant director | | 1990 | TV movie |
| 4 Faces | Second assistant director | Ted Post | 1999 | |
| Tyrannosaurus Azteca | Construction driver | Brian Trenchard-Smith | 2007 | |
| Tropic Thunder | Driver | Ben Stiller | 2008 | |
| Deadly Honeymoon | Second assistant director | Paul Shapiro | 2010 | TV movie |
Television :
| Title | Episode # | Role | Director | Year | Notes # |
| Emergency! | unknown | Dga trainee | various | 1972 | Unknown |
| Police Story | unknown | Second assistant director | various | 1973 | Unknown |
| Fantasy Island | Pilot episode | Second assistant director | Richard Lang | 1977 | Season 1, Episode 1 |
| Lou Grant | Unknown | Second assistant director | Various | 1977 | Unknown |
| The White Shadow | Here's Mud in Your Eye | Second assistant director | Bruce Paltrow | 1978 | Season 1, Episode 2 |
| The White Shadow | Bonus Baby | Second assistant director | Jackie Cooper | 1978 | Season 1, Episode 4 |
| The White Shadow | Pregnant Pause | Second assistant director | Jackie Cooper | 1978 | Season 1, Episode 5 |
| ABC Afterschool Specials | A Special Gift | Second assistant director | Arthur Allan Seidelman | 1979 | Season 8, Episode 3 |
| CBS Afternoon Playhouse | Think I'm Having a Baby | Second assistant director | Arthur Allan Seidelman | 1981 | Season 3, Episode 2 |
| Matt Houston | X-22 | Second assistant director | Richard Lang | 1982 | Season 1, Episode 1 |
| Lottery | unknown | Second assistant director | various | 1983 | |
| Crazy Like a Fox | unknown | Second assistant director | various | 1984 | |
| Stir Crazy | unknown | Second assistant director | Christian I. Nyby II or Peter H. Hunt | 1985 | |
| Amerika | unknown | Second assistant director | Donald Wrye | 1987 | |
| Buck James | unknown | Second assistant director | | 1987 | |
| Sonny Spoon | unknown | first assistant director | various | 1988 | |
| Down Home | unknown | Second assistant director | various | 1990 | |
| Sunset Beat | unknown | Second assistant director | | 1990 | |
| Broken Badges | unknown | First assistant director | various | 1990 | |
| Human Target | unknown | Second assistant director | various | 1992 | |
| Diagnosis Murder | Many Happy Returns | Second assistant director | Lou Antonio | 1994 | Season 2, Episode 1 |
| Diagnosis Murder | A Very Fatal Funeral | second assistant director | Alan Myerson | 1994 | Season 2, episode 2 |
| Diagnosis Murder | Woman Trouble | Second assistant director | Roy Campanella II | 1994 | Season 2, Episode 3 |
| Diagnosis Murder | The Busy Body | Second assistant director | Vincent McEveety | 1994 | Season 2, Episode 4 |
| Diagnosis Murder | My Four Husbands | second assistant director | Christian I. Nyby II | 1998 | Season 2, Episode 5 |
| Diagnosis Murder | Witness to Murder | second assistant director | Paris Barclay | 1995 | Season 3, Episode 2 |
| Diagnosis Murder | The Pressure to Murder, | second assistant director | Christopher Hibler | 1996 | Season 3, Episode 9 |
| Diagnosis Murder | The ABC's of Murder | second assistant director | Christian I. Nyby II | 1996 | Season 4, Episode 11 |
| Diagnosis Murder | Murder in the Family | second assistant director | Vincent McEveety | 1998 | Season 4, Episode 12 |
| Diagnosis Murder | Deadly Games | second assistant director | Christopher Hibler | 1997 | Season 5, Episode 4 |
| Diagnosis Murder | Slam Dunk Dead | second assistant director | Vincent McEveety | 1997 | Season 5, Episode 5 |
| Diagnosis Murder | A Mime Is a Terrible Thing to Waste | second assistant director | Christopher Hibler | 1997 | Season 5, Episode 11 |
| Diagnosis Murder | Down and Dirty Dead | second assistant director | Ron Satlof | 1997 | Season 5, Episode 12 |
| Diagnosis Murder | An Education in Murder | second assistant director | Frank Thackery | 1998 | Season 5, Episode 19 |
| Diagnosis Murder | Murder at the Finish Line | second assistant director | Christopher Hibler | 1998 | Season 5, Episode 20 |
| Hawaii Five-0 | Ua Lawe Wale | actor: Wali | Duane Clark | 2011 | Season 2, Episode 2 |

## Writing

He had been a writer. Around or prior to the early 1970s, Strode had composed some songs. They included "Blood Red Moon", "Childling Sun" "Oh Mellow Day", "America Is My Home", "Love Has Its Stormy Seasons", "Me And My Magic Guitar", "Nani's Way", "A Thousand Ways", and "The Truth Is You", Another composition of his, possibly written a few years later was "Coco".

## Later years

By 2010 at the age of 63, he ran as an independent candidate for the United States House of Representatives. While he was interviewed about his candidacy by Lee Cataluña of the Honolulu Advertiser, he was working for Teamsters Local 996, driving and electrical rigging truck on a movie set of The Descendants. In the 2010 Special, he came 5th in a list of 14 candidates.
In 2014, he was interviewed for the documentary The Forgotten Four, which he and his wife attended the premiere for on September 9, 2014, in Westwood, California.

## Illness and death

During a medical examination as part of a pre-employment physical for a movie, Strode was diagnosed with Mantle cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. He took five months of chemotherapy and appeared to be in remission. In 2013, as a result of a routine PET scan, it was determined that his cancer had returned. He then relocated to Grand Forks for easier access to the Mayo Clinic.
After a three-year battle with the disease, Strode died on November 27, 2014. At the time of his passing, he was helping to care for his mother-in-law.