Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18. Dacascos is perhaps best known for his roles as Mani in the French film Brotherhood of the Wolf, Toby Wong in the 1997 film Drive and Ling in the 2003 film Cradle 2 the Grave.
Beginning in January 2005, Dacascos has portrayed the Chairman on Food Network's television series Iron Chef America. This role was previously played by Takeshi Kaga in the original Japanese Iron Chef, while Dacascos' character is presented as Kaga's nephew, though the actors are not related. Some of his other roles include the recurring character of Wo Fat on the CBS series Hawaii Five-0, Kung Lao in the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, Eric Draven in The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Eubulon (the Advent Master) in Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight and the title role in the film Crying Freeman.
Dacascos competed in season 9 of Dancing with the Stars.
Dacascos' father, Al Dacascos, is from Hawaii and is a martial arts instructor of Filipino, Spanish, and Han Chinese ancestry. His biological mother, Moriko McVey-Murray, is of Irish and Japanese ancestry. In the History Channel presentation "Samurai", Dacascos revealed that many members of the Japanese side of his mother's family were killed in the bombing of Hiroshima. Mark's stepmother is award-winning martial artist Malia Bernal. Dacascos attended Los Angeles Valley College and was on its 1983-1984 gymnastics team, coached by Gary Honjio. He also attended Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Dacascos is proficient in his father's style of martial arts, Wun Hop Kuen Do. He has studied Muay Thai with Kru Puk, Capoeira with Mestre Amen Santo, and Wushu with Coaches Eric and Debbie Chen, though he self-admittedly is still very much a beginner/intermediate student in those arts.
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