Actor Patrick Adiarte passed away on Tuesday at the age of 82. He was known for his recurring role in the first season of the acclaimed sitcom MASH.
Throughout his distinguished career in musical theater, Adiarte appeared in film adaptations of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classics Flower Drum Song and The King and I.
In the 1970s, the Filipino actor made guest appearances on several iconic television series, including Hawaii Five-O, The Brady Bunch, Bonanza, and Kojak. His most memorable role during that era was as Ho-Jon, the camp houseboy on MASH, a character he portrayed from 1972 to 1973.Furthermore, he was an exceptional dancer who displayed his talents on television alongside Gene Kelly, who regarded him as a potential successor to Fred Astaire.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Adiarte passed away due to pneumonia in a Los Angeles hospital, as confirmed by his niece, Stephanie Hogan. The well-known 1970 film of the same name, directed by Robert Altman and centered on American military medical personnel during the Korean War, was later adapted into the television series MAS*H.
In the inaugural season of the series, which premiered in 1973, Adiarte portrayed the character Ho-Jon, the orphaned houseboy of Kim Atwood. The pilot episode reveals that Ho-Jon has been accepted into a U.S. institution, with the doctors organizing a fundraiser to support his tuition.
Following the first season, Ho-Jon disappeared from the sitcom, implying that he had successfully reached America to continue his education. Adiarte was born in Manila in 1943 and, along with his mother Purita and sister Irene, was imprisoned on an island during World War II after the loss of his father.
During their escape attempt, three-year-old Patrick and five-year-old Irene suffered burns when Japanese soldiers threw grenades at them. The remaining Adiartes arrived at Ellis Island a year after the war concluded, and by 1951, Patrick and his dancer mother were performing in The King and I on Broadway.
At just shy of his ninth birthday in 19th-century Bangkok, Patrick served as a stand-in for one of the 15 royal children being tutored by Anna, an Anglo-Indian teacher. Subsequently, he attended the Professional Children’s School in New York, where he was classmates with Liza Minnelli and eventually secured the role of the crown prince in the 1956 film The King and I, featuring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner.Thanks to the assistance of then-Senator John F. Kennedy, the Adiartes obtained U.S. citizenship in 1956, after enduring years of anxiety regarding deportation.
Adiarte’s participation in the 1958 Broadway debut of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song further solidified his connection with the duo. He portrayed Wang San, a prosperous Chinese immigrant in San Francisco, who strives to maintain his cultural heritage while his son has adopted American ways.
On the television program Omnibus, Adiarte advertised the production by performing a medley showcasing the evolution of tap dancing alongside Gene Kelly, the director of Flower Drum Song, where Kelly demonstrated the original version of a dance step before Adiarte showcased the modern interpretation. ‘Patrick is an exceptional dancer,’ Kelly remarked on air, affectionately placing an arm around Adiarte.
‘If there is to be another Fred Astaire, it could very well be Pat.’ In 1960, he starred alongside Bing Crosby and Tuesday Weld in the Blake Edwards comedy High Time, followed by his role in the 1961 film adaptation of Flower Drum Song.
In the 1965 Cold War comedy John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!, featuring Shirley MacLaine and Peter Ustinov, he took on the role of a prince from a fictional Arab nation, with Richard Crenna and Jerry Orbach in supporting roles. His career remained centered on dance, and he continued to impart his knowledge of the art form at institutions such as Santa Monica College during his later years.