Kahoona

Last updated
the Kahoona
Dee and robertson.jpg
Sandra Dee and Cliff Robertson in Gidget
First appearanceGidget, The Little Girl With Big Ideas
Last appearance The New Gidget
Created byFrederick Kohner
Portrayed by Cliff Robertson
Martin Milner
Don Stroud
In-universe information
Gender Male
OccupationBeach bum, Ski bum
SpouseBuff (divorced)

The Kahoona (sometimes the Great Kahoona) is a character created by Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. As "Kahuna", the character appears in the 1959 film Gidget and in some of the television work involving the Gidget character.

Contents

In the novels

Gidget describes the Kahoona's first appearance:

Just then the bamboo curtain to the hut was drawn open and this bum came out. What I mean, he wasn't a bum, but then he wasn't exactly the kind of guy that would drive a girl mad with desire either. He was on the oldish side—around the end of the twenties or so. You got the impression he had just got up or something. Of course all the surfers in enclosure wore only shorts or Hawaiian-print bathing trunks but this superannuated Huckleberry Finn had on a pair of jeans that were cut off just beneath the knees and looked more like an old rag bleached by the sun. He was a real tall guy with legs of unbelievable length. Jeez, he was tanned. You've never laid your eyes on a tan like that. Like one of those suntan oil ads you see in magazines—only more so. He had a beard growth of at least three days and he stood there and scratched his stubble and had this kind of empty gaze like he was full of booze.

There was something about the way the other guys greeted him that told me he was a real hotshot. [1]

Gidget and the Kahoona introduce themselves thus:

”Come along, kid,” he said. “What's your name?”

”It's Franzie,” I said. “From Franziska. It's a German name. After my grandmother.”

”Mine is Cass,” he said, real friendly, “from Cassius. After nobody.” [1]

The Kahoona is a principal character in this novel and its immediate sequel, Cher Papa, alternately Gidget's friend, role model and potential love interest. He does not address or refer to Gidget by her titular nickname, but calls her Franzie or Angel. In the second novel, it is revealed that his last name is Jason, and that he served in the Korean War. [2] In this novel Gidget becomes deeply infatuated with him. He does not appear in the subsequent novels, but is occasionally mentioned in passing, for example in the novelization Gidget Goes Hawaiian:

"My friend the great Kahoona once told me that the sea is where we came in, and the sea is where we go out. We have crawled out of the sea and one day we're going to crawl back into it. That solution of salt is in our blood." [3]

In film

In the 1959 film Gidget , Cliff Robertson [4] [ better source needed ] portrays the character (now spelled Kahuna); in this film his proper name is Burt Vail. Kahuna does not appear in Gidget Goes Hawaiian or Gidget Goes to Rome .

In television

In the television sitcom Gidget , (episode three, The Great Kahuna), he is portrayed by Martin Milner, [5] [ better source needed ] and the character's proper name is Cassius Kopp. [6] Kahuna does not appear in Gidget Grows Up or Gidget Gets Married , but he is portrayed by Don Stroud [7] [ better source needed ] in Gidget's Summer Reunion [8] [ better source needed ] and The New Gidget . [9] [ better source needed ]

Related Research Articles

Kahuna is a Hawaiian word that refers to an expert in any field. Historically, it has been used to refer to doctors, surgeons and dentists, as well as priests, ministers, and sorcerers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Darren</span> American actor (born 1936)

James William Ercolani known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer. During the late-1950s and early-'60s, he had notable starring and supporting roles in such films as Gidget (1959) and its sequels, The Gene Krupa Story (1959), All the Young Men (1960), The Guns of Navarone (1961), and Diamond Head (1962), and was briefly promoted as a teen pop singer. Later in the 1960s he became more active in television, starring in the short-lived science fiction series The Time Tunnel (1966–1967) and taking on the recurring role of Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998–1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Milner</span> American actor (1931–2015)

Martin Sam Milner was an American actor and radio host. He is best known for his performances on two television series: Route 66, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and Adam-12, which aired on NBC from 1968 to 1975.

<i>Gidget</i> (film) 1959 American comedy film

Gidget is a 1959 American CinemaScope comedy film. The picture stars Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, James Darren, Arthur O'Connell and The Four Preps. in a story about a teenager's initiation into the California surf culture and her romance with a young surfer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Stroud</span> American actor, musician, and surfer (born 1943)

Donald Lee Stroud is an American actor, musician, and surfer. Stroud appeared in over 100 films and 200 television shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gidget</span> Fictional character

Gidget is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. The novel follows the adventures of a teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beach in Malibu. The name Gidget is a portmanteau of "girl" and "midget". Following the novel's publication, the character appeared in several films, television series and television movies.

<i>Gidget</i> (TV series)

Gidget is an American sitcom by Screen Gems about a surfing, boy-crazy teenager called "Gidget" and her widowed father Russ Lawrence, a UCLA professor. Sally Field stars as Gidget with Don Porter as father Russell Lawrence. The series was first broadcast on ABC from September 15, 1965 to April 21, 1966. Reruns were aired until September 1, 1966.

<i>Gidget Goes Hawaiian</i> 1961 film by Paul Wendkos

Gidget Goes Hawaiian is a 1961 American romantic comedy musical film starring James Darren, Michael Callan and Deborah Walley. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film is a sequel to the 1959 Sandra Dee "beach movie" vehicle Gidget. Dee was under contract to Universal for the rival series film Tammy Tell Me True (1961) and would not be released to Columbia to reprise her hit role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shawn Hatosy</span> American actor

Shawn Wayne Hatosy is an American film and television actor and director. He is best known for his roles in the films In & Out, The Faculty, Outside Providence, Anywhere but Here, The Cooler, and Alpha Dog. He is also well known for his role as Detective Sammy Bryant on the TNT crime drama series Southland and starred as Andrew "Pope" Cody in the TNT crime drama series, Animal Kingdom, based on the 2010 Australian film of the same title.

<i>Imitation of Life</i> (1959 film) 1959 film directed by Douglas Sirk

Imitation of Life is a 1959 American drama film directed by Douglas Sirk, produced by Ross Hunter and released by Universal International. It was Sirk's final Hollywood film and dealt with issues of race, class and gender. Imitation of Life is the second film adaptation of Fannie Hurst's 1933 novel of the same name; the first, directed by John M. Stahl, was released in 1934.

Paul Kohner was an Austrian-American talent agent and producer who managed the careers of many stars and others—like Ingrid Bergman, Maurice Chevalier, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, John Huston, Liv Ullmann and Billy Wilder—of the golden age of Hollywood, especially those who came from Europe before World War II. He was married to the Mexican-American actress, Lupita Tovar. His brother was Frederick Kohner, a novelist and screenwriter, his daughter was the actress Susan Kohner. His grandsons are the filmmakers Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larue Wilson</span> Fictional character

Larue Wilson is a fictional character introduced in the Frederick Kohner novel Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas (1957). She also appears in much of the television work involving Gidget.

Kathy Kohner Zuckerman is the real-life inspiration for the fictional character of Franzie from the 1957 novel, Gidget: The Little Girl with Big Ideas, written by her father Frederick Kohner.

Moondoggie is a fictional character created by Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel Gidget, The Little Girl with Big Ideas. He appears as a principal character in five of the eight Gidget novels, but is a minor character or is only mentioned in passing in Cher Papa, The Affairs of Gidget and Gidget Goes Parisienne.

<i>Gidget Goes to Rome</i> 1963 film by Paul Wendkos

Gidget Goes to Rome is a 1963 Columbia Pictures Eastmancolor feature film starring Cindy Carol as the archetypal high school teen surfer girl originally portrayed by Sandra Dee in the 1959 film Gidget. The film is the third of three Gidget films directed by Paul Wendkos and expands upon Gidget's romance with boyfriend Moondoggie. The screenplay was written by Ruth Brooks Flippen based on characters created by Frederick Kohner. Veterans of previous Gidget films making appearances include James Darren as "Moondoggie", Joby Baker, and Jean "Jeff" Donnell as Gidget's mom, Mrs. Lawrence.

A kahuna is a Hawaiian priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, or expert in any profession.

Friedrich Kohner, credited professionally as Frederick Kohner, was an Austrian-born novelist and screenwriter, both in Germany and the U.S..

<i>Gidget Grows Up</i> 1969 television film by James Sheldon

Gidget Grows Up is a 1969 American made-for-television comedy film directed by James Sheldon with stars Karen Valentine, Edward Mulhare and Paul Petersen as well as alphabetically listed special guest stars Warner Anderson, Bob Cummings, Nina Foch and Paul Lynde. Freely adapted from the novel Gidget Goes New York by Frederick Kohner, the film premiered on ABC on December 30, 1969, and was intended as a pilot for a possible new Gidget series, possibly a sequel to the 1960s sitcom Gidget.

<i>Gidgets Summer Reunion</i>

Gidget's Summer Reunion is a 1985 American made-for-television adventure comedy-drama film produced by Columbia Pictures Television that aired in syndication on June 1, 1985. It was written by Robert Blees and George Zateslo, directed by Bruce Bilson and stars Caryn Richman as Gidget, Dean Butler, Allison Barron, William Schallert, Anne Lockhart and Mary Frann.

Gidget is a fictional character created by Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas.

References

  1. 1 2 Gidget (2001) by Frederick Kohner, Berkley Publishing Group, New York, NY (first edition 1957)
  2. ↑ Cher Papa (1959) by Frederick Kohner, Putnam Books, New York, NY
  3. ↑ Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) by Frederick Kohner, Bantam Books, New York, NY
  4. ↑ Cliff Robertson at IMDb [ unreliable source? ]
  5. ↑ Martin Milner at IMDb [ unreliable source? ]
  6. ↑ Gidget: The Complete Series (2006). [DVD set]. New York: Sony Pictures.
  7. ↑ Don Stroud at IMDb [ unreliable source? ]
  8. ↑ Gidget's Summer Reunion at IMDb [ unreliable source? ]
  9. ↑ The New Gidget at IMDb [ unreliable source? ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.