Mark Dacascos (born February 26, 1964, Honolulu, Hawaii) is an actor and martial arts expert, winning numerous karate and kung fu championships between the age of 9 and 18 . He has been featured in such films as Only The Strong and Cradle 2 the Grave.
His father, Al Dacascos, is a Filipino martial arts instructor of Malay, Spanish, and Chinese ancestry. His mother, Moriko McVey, is of Irish and Japanese ancestry. Dacascos refers to McVey as his "natural mother" and his stepmother, martial artist Malia Bernal, as his "second mother."
Beginning in January 2005, Dacascos has portrayed "the Chairman" on Food Network's Iron Chef America. This role was previously played by Takeshi Kaga in the original Japanese Iron Chef. IMDB incorrectly states that Takeshi Kaga is his uncle on his mother's side. This likely stems from confusion over Dacascos playing the character of the nephew of "Chairman Kaga" in Iron Chef America. The misunderstanding most probably arises over "Chairman Kaga" himself being a fictional character. IMBD has since amended their information to correct this inaccuracy.
Dacascos became an actor after being discovered walking down the street in San Francisco's Chinatown by two men working for director Wayne Wang. Though Dacascos' first scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, he has gone on to establish a film and television career mostly playing martial artists.
Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)
