Patrick Adiarte, a Filipino-American actor and dancer who overcame early adversity to achieve success on Broadway, in Hollywood films, and on television, passed away on April 10 in Los Angeles. He was 82 years old.
His niece, Stephanie Hogan, confirmed that complications from pneumonia led to his death in a hospital.
Adiarte’s career spanned a wide array of roles portraying different ethnicities, culminating in his notable performance as Ho-Jon, the Korean orderly assisting the witty doctors Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John during the inaugural season of the television series ‘M*A*S*H.’
As a child performer, he was cast in the original 1951 Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘The King and I’ as one of King Mongkut’s children, tutored by a widowed schoolteacher. Later, as a teenager, he took on the role of an assimilated Chinese American in their musical ‘Flower Drum Song’ (1958).
Adiarte also appeared in the film adaptations of both musicals, released in 1956 and 1961 respectively.
Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, he made guest appearances on a variety of television shows. He portrayed a Native American named Swift Eagle on ‘Bonanza,’ a Samoan boxer on ‘Ironside,’ and a Viet Cong guerrilla on ‘CBS Playhouse.’ Additionally, he played a Hawaiian tour guide in two episodes of ‘The Brady Bunch’ filmed in Hawaii.
In the 1960 film ‘High Time,’ directed by Blake Edwards, Adiarte took on the role of an Indian exchange student who becomes roommates with Bing Crosby’s character, a man returning to college in his fifties.
Sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen, author of ‘Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism’ (2016), noted that Adiarte’s experiences reflect a broader trend in Hollywood, where Filipinx representation remains scarce. She highlighted that even contemporary actors of Filipino descent seldom portray characters of their own heritage.
Between 1965 and 1966, Adiarte was a frequent dancer on the musical variety show ‘Hullabaloo.’ He once shared that some dances, including the Watusi and the swim, were particularly challenging for him to master, sometimes requiring several weeks of practice.
He also pursued a brief singing career, recording the 1966 single ‘Five Different Girls,’ which he performed on ‘Hullabaloo.’ His energetic presence earned him the playful nickname “Hullabalooest Hullabalooer” in the press.
In 1972, Adiarte returned to television fame portraying Ho-Jon, the orphaned Korean aide on ‘M*A*S*H,’ appearing first in the pilot and in six subsequent episodes.
Ho-Jon was a central figure in the pilot episode, where Hawkeye and Trapper raise funds to send him to medical school in the United States. In another storyline, Ho-Jon admits to stealing valuables to bribe border guards so he can reunite his family from North Korea. The character disappeared from the show after the eleventh episode without explanation.
Ryan Patrick, co-host of the podcast ‘M*A*S*H Matters,’ remarked that Ho-Jon remains a beloved character among fans, many of whom imagine he eventually moved to the U.S. to live with Hawkeye’s father while attending medical school.
Following his television work, Adiarte shifted focus to choreography, contributing to multiple productions of the musical revue ‘Starting Here, Starting Now,’ and taught dance at Santa Monica College from 1985 until 1997.
Born Patrick Napoleon Adiarte on August 2, 1942, in Manila, he was the son of Purita (Rodriguez) Adiarte, an actress and dancer, and Isidro Adiarte, a captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
During World War II, in February 1945, Patrick, his mother, and sister Irene were imprisoned on Cebu Island. As Allied forces fought to reclaim the area, the Japanese set fire to the prison and used grenades, inflicting severe burns on Irene and lesser injuries on Patrick as the family attempted to escape. A U.S. congressional report also records that his father was captured and executed in March.
The family immigrated to the United States in 1946, settling in New York City where Irene underwent facial surgery. Facing possible deportation for overstaying their visitor status, they gained citizenship in 1956 through legislation sponsored by then-Senator John F. Kennedy.
Under his mother’s tutelage in dance, Patrick joined the Broadway cast of ‘The King and I’ in 1951 as a replacement, earning $85 a week portraying one of King Mongkut’s children. He later advanced to play the crown prince during the show’s tour and in the film adaptation.
Reflecting on his growth in the role, Adiarte remarked, “I sort of grew up from one of the little princes to the role of crown prince. It took about four years.”
In the film version of ‘Flower Drum Song,’ he appeared in a baseball uniform, singing and dancing to the number ‘The Other Generation’ alongside two young co-stars.
During the Broadway run of ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Adiarte promoted the show by performing a tap dance with director Gene Kelly on NBC’s cultural series ‘Omnibus’ in late 1958.
Gene Kelly praised him, saying, “Patrick is a mighty fine dancer. If there’s going to be another Fred Astaire, I think it might as well, might well be Pat.”
Patrick Adiarte is survived by his companion Shirley Kong and a nephew, Mike DeVito. His marriage to singer and actress Loni Ackerman ended in divorce.
