Kamuela C. Searle was an Hawaiian

Native Hawaiians

Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, sculptor and painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, best remembered for his portrayal of Korak, the son of Tarzan

Tarzan

Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...

 and Jane

Jane Porter (Tarzan)

Jane Porter is a major character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film.- In the novels :...

.

Early life and film career

Born as Samuel Cooper Searle in Waichinu, Kauai

Kauai

Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, Searle met legendary film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 Cecil B. Demille

Cecil B. DeMille

Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...

 on the beach at Waikiki

Waikiki

Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....

 in 1915. DeMille encouraged Searle to go to Hollywood and pursue a film career. Legend has it that Searle appeared in a couple of Demille's films during this time, but no definite proof exists. He enlisted in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, and fought and was wounded in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Upon his discharge, Searle adopted Kamuela (the Hawaiian spelling of Samuel) as his first name, and appeared, uncredited, in Demille's 1919 film Male and Female. His first credited role was in The Sea Wolf, released in 1920.

Korak and beyond

Cowboy actor Jack Hoxie

Jack Hoxie

Jack Hoxie was an American rodeo performer and motion picture actor whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1930s...

 was originally slated to play the adult Jack Clayton (known by the Ape name Korak) in the 1920 film serial The Son of Tarzan

The Son of Tarzan (film)

The Son of Tarzan is a 15 chapter film serial which focuses on the coming of age of Jack Clayton, also known as Korak, the son of Tarzan and Jane. The serial was produced by David P. Howells, written by Roy Somerville , and directed by Arthur J. Flaven and Harry Revier...

, but was dropped from the production before filming began. Searle was cast, and enthusiastically spent a month in the desert to "harden" himself for the role.

Death urban legend and final years

Many sources, including Gabe Essoe's Tarzan of the Movies, have incorrectly stated that Searle was mortally wounded when an elephant carrying him bound to a stake slammed him to the ground. Though he was hurt enough that a double completed a few final long shots, Searle recovered from his injuries and completed one more film, Cecil B. DeMille's Fool's Paradise (1921), before he retired from acting to concentrate on sculpting and painting.

According to Kamuela Searle's brother, he died of cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 in 1924, aged thirty-three.

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