Glenn Cannon obit

GLENN CANNON Has Died

 He was not on the list.

Glenn Cannon — award-winning actor and director, educator and mentor to several generations of young would-be actors — died Saturday, April 20, at Straub Hospital. He was 80.

Cannon’s death was announced by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) Hawaii Local. Cannon served for more than 20 years as president and board member of the former Screen Actors Guild Hawaii Branch and at the time of his death was co-president of the combined Hawaii Local.

Becky Maltby, a long-time friend and colleague who had worked with Cannon on stage and also as a Hawaii Local board member, recalled him as a man with “a vital presence that would fill the room.”

“The passion and integrity he put into his work was unrivaled,” Maltby said. “A brilliant, funny, compassionate, noble man. He will be profoundly missed by so many.”

Maltby captured many facets of Cannon’s character, career, and impact on others when she produced a biographical film on Cannon’s life and times for screening at a party held in his honor at Manoa Valley Theatre in 2011.

Russell Motter, a Po‘okela Award-winning actor in recent years, remembered Cannon as a former teacher who was “a tough critic.”

“But I think many of us loved him for that,” said Motter. “We wanted so much to do our best for him. To deliver a line that elicited that great laugh of his was a treasured prize.”

Born in Philadelphia in 1932, Cannon graduated from Temple University in 1954 and went to New York to pursue a career as an actor. He appeared on Broadway in “A Moon for the Misbegotten” in 1957 and “The Good Woman of Setzuan,” and also in numerous off-Broadway shows and touring productions.

His career soon expanded to include roles in films such as “Cop Hater” and “Mad Dog Coll,” and television shows including “77 Sunset Strip,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Combat!,” “Johnny Staccato,” “The Gallant Men,” and “The Outer Limits.”

In 1965 he accepted a teaching fellowship at Stanford University and became an actor, director and teacher with the Stanford Repertory Theatre, an Equity company of nine actors supplemented by students in Stanford’s theater program.

Cannon was hired in 1968 by the University of Hawaii as a professor in the drama department and never left. In his 45 years in Hawaii, Cannon directed more than 50 shows at UH-Manoa and probably close to another 50 for most of Honolulu’s major community theater groups.

Newscaster Joe Moore, a veteran stage and television actor, described Cannon as “not only a dear friend and colleague but was truly my mentor as an actor.”

“In the early days of the original ‘Hawaii Five-O’ I was turned down for three roles before I realized the problem was I didn’t know what I was doing as a television or film actor, so I went to Glenn for lessons. After three sessions with him I was cast in my first ‘Five-O’ role, and never had a problem being cast for a network TV series after that.”

Moore subsequently chose Cannon as his director when he staged two original plays, “The Heydrich Covenant” and “Prophecy and Honor,” and again when he presented “The Boys of Autumn” with Pat Sejak at the Hawaii Theatre.

“As a director he was a taskmaster, bringing out the best an actor could bring to a role,” Moore said. “As a friend, he was always there with a sympathetic ear, but not shy about letting you know what he felt you needed to hear in any given situation. The acting community has suffered a great loss, and I have lost a dear friend.”

The range of Cannon’s own work as a stage actor in Hawaii is represented on one hand by his Po‘okela- Award-winning performance in the title role of Manoa Valley Theater’s 2003 production of “Visiting Mr. Green” on one hand, and his work in the bizarre comic bit-part role of a Yiddish Satan in red longjohns and running shoes in Hawaii Pacific University’s staging of “A Night at Rosie’s” in 1997 and its sequel, “Aloha Rosie’s” in 2005.”

Cannon received 12 Po‘okela Awards for excellence from the Hawai‘i State Theater Council (SATC) – most recently in 2011 for his work as the director of Manoa Valley Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of “August: Osage County.” He received SATC’s Pierre Bowman Award for lifetime achievement in 2009.

“His work (at UH-Manoa) focused on many of the great plays of the western cannon, ranging from intense dramas to period comedies to musicals,” said Marty Myers, manager of Kennedy Theatre. “He was (also) instrumental in getting the Academy for Creative Media started on campus.”

Cannon’s years in Hawaii also saw him extend his career as a television actor. “Hawaii Five-0” fans remember him as District Attorney John Manicote. He subsequently portrayed Dr. Ibold for seven seasons on “Magnum, P.I.”, and also aappeared in “Jake and the Fatman,” “Tour of Duty,” “Island Son” and “Lost.”

Cannon is survived by his wife, Samsil “Sam” Cannon, and son Caleb. Funeral services and plans for a celebration of life are pending.

 

Actor

Naveen Andrews, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Daniel Dae Kim, Emilie de Ravin, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Yunjin Kim, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O'Quinn, Harold Perrineau, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Watros, Maggie Grace, and Evangeline Lilly in Lost (2004)

Lost

8.3

TV Series

Old Scooter ManPriest

2004–2005

3 episodes

 

Picture Bride (1994)

Picture Bride

6.6

Mr. Pieper

1994

 

William Conrad and Joe Penny in Jake and the Fatman (1987)

Jake and the Fatman

6.4

TV Series

Harry EastmanPhil Chandler

1989–1990

2 episodes

 

Miracle Landing (1990)

Miracle Landing

6.3

TV Movie

Chris Wesler

1990

 

Island Son (1989)

Island Son

7.4

TV Series

1989–1990

4 episodes

 

Tom Selleck in Magnum, P.I. (1980)

Magnum, P.I.

7.5

TV Series

Dr. IboldDr. Bernard Kessler

1981–1988

14 episodes

 

Steve Akahoshi, Tony Becker, Eric Bruskotter, Stephen Caffrey, Kevin Conroy, Stan Foster, Ramón Franco, Terence Knox, Joshua D. Maurer, and Miguel A. Núñez Jr. in Tour of Duty (1987)

Tour of Duty

8.3

TV Series

Doctor

1988

1 episode

 

The Islander (1978)

The Islander

6.6

TV Movie

Wallace

1978

 

Dr. Scorpion (1978)

Dr. Scorpion

5.4

TV Movie

Hotel Manager (uncredited)

1978

 

Kam Fong, Al Harrington, Jack Lord, and James MacArthur in Hawaii Five-O (1968)

Hawaii Five-O

7.4

TV Series

ManicoteJohn ManicoteCarlson ...

1970–1977

33 episodes

 

Combat! (1962)

Combat!

8.4

TV Series

RankinPvt. CaneLt. Tafe ...

1962–1965

5 episodes

 

No Time for Sergeants (1964)

No Time for Sergeants

7.0

TV Series

Walter

1964

1 episode

 

The Outer Limits (1963)

The Outer Limits

8.1

TV Series

Teenage Luminos (as Glenn Gannon)

1964

1 episode

 

Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)

77 Sunset Strip

7.7

TV Series

Denny Skipton

1963

1 episode

 

The Gallant Men (1962)

The Gallant Men

8.0

TV Series

Cpl. Lefty Morgan

1963

1 episode

 

Alfred Hitchcock in Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

8.5

TV Series

Davey

1961

1 episode

 

John Davis Chandler and Leonardo Cimino in Mad Dog Coll (1961)

Mad Dog Coll

5.6

Harry

1961

 

Johnny Staccato (1959)

Johnny Staccato

7.9

TV Series

Joe Purvis

1960

1 episode

 

Cop Hater (1958)

Cop Hater

6.3

Rip - Gang Leader (as Glen Gannon)

1958

 

Wally Cox in Goodyear Television Playhouse (1951)

Goodyear Television Playhouse

7.4

TV Series

Dawson

1957

1 episode

 

Playwrights '56 (1955)

Playwrights '56

6.3

TV Series

Aaron

1956

1 episode

 

Thanks

Rita Gardner, William Hill, Nils Kenaston, Michael Medeiros, Tom Nardini, Krista Amigone, Tom Pelphrey, Kevin Kane, Ilvi Dulack, Sarah Shaefer, Milosz Jeziorski, Lauren Marissa Smith, Karen Chamberlain, John Fabbri, Beth Steinberg, Ernie Nunez, and Gerri Griswold in Tiger Lily Road (2013)

Tiger Lily Road

6.9

special thanks

2013