Khigh Dhiegh

Khigh Alx Dhiegh ( or ; born Kenneth Dickerson; August 25, 1910 – October 25, 1991) was an American television and motion picture actor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudanese ancestry, noted for portraying East Asian roles. He is perhaps best remembered for portraying villains, in particular his recurring TV guest role as Chinese agent Wo Fat on Hawaii Five-O (from the pilot in 1968, to the final episode in 1980), and brainwashing expert Dr. Yen Lo in 1962's The Manchurian Candidate. Life and death He was born Kenneth Dickerson in Spring Lake, New Jersey. Dhiegh stated his mother was "Chinese, Spanish, English, and Egyptian" and his father was "Italian, Portuguese, and Zulu"; he was raised in New York City, living in all the boroughs except Staten Island. He moved to Arizona in 1977. Dhiegh died on October 25, 1991, at Desert Samaritan Hospital of Mesa, Arizona, from kidney and heart failure. Career In the early 1930s, Dhiegh was asked by a customer at his mother's bookshop to understudy the role of a butler in Noël Coward's Design for Living, which led to his long career in acting, producing, and directing.