Taylor Wily, known for his memorable roles in the “Hawaii Five-0” reboot and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” has passed away at the age of 56.
The news of his death was confirmed by local Hawaiian news station KITV and “Hawaii Five-0” executive producer Peter M. Lenkov via Instagram posts. Wily’s cause of death has not been disclosed.
“I am devastated. Heartbroken. I’ll post some detailed feelings later. Just too hard right now,” he wrote, alongside of a picture with Wily, on June 20.
Lenkov followed it with another post of a photo montage and wrote, “T, as I told you many times, I fell in love with you at the first audition. You came in with a towel on your head mopping up sweat, and I was smitten.
You charmed me into making you a regular… on the show… and in my life. You were family. And I will miss you every day, brother. PS: when we spoke last week, we laughed at how right you were from Day 1. ‘Five-0’ was our dream job. And I was so lucky we got to share that magic together.”
Taylor Wily, born Teila Tuli on June 14, 1968, in Honolulu, Hawaii, appeared in 171 episodes of “Hawaii Five-0” as Kamekona Tupuola.
He also reprised this role in episodes of other rebooted series like “MacGyver” and “Magnum P.I.”
Before his acting career, Wily was a sumo wrestler and competed in UFC and MMA matches, known for his formidable 450-pound frame. He is survived by his wife Halona and their two children.
