“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of the passing of a Hawaii celebrity who was also a family friend,” Langi shared on the broadcast on Thursday. “Taylor Wily, former wrestler, MMA fighter and actor passed away today in Hurricane, Utah.”
She added: “He would look physically menacing until you just folded right into a hug, and that was it. My heart is breaking.”
Her co-host, Davey D, described Wily as one of the “kindest” and “gentlest souls.”
His cause of death has not been revealed.
Wily — whose real name was Teila Tuli — played Kamekona on the CBS drama for 171 episodes for 10 seasons between 2010 and 2020. He reprised his role for seven episodes in “Magnum P.I.”
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1968, Wily also appeared in the 2008 romantic comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” which starred Jason Segel, Kristen Bell and Paul Rudd. Other credits included “Radical,” “MacGyver,” “North Shore” and “Marker.”
Off-screen, Wily was a sumo wrestler under the name “Takamishu.”
According to TV Insider, he won his first 14 matches before becoming the first foreign-born wrestler to win the championship in the third-highest makushita division. In 2000, he lost to fighter Gerard Gordeau in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
He is survived by his wife, Halona, and their two children.
