Patrick Adiarte, Legendary 'The King and I' Dancer & 'Brady Bunch' Guest, Dies at 82

Patrick Adiarte, the legendary Philippines-born dancer who appeared in the film version of "The King and I," died April 15 at 81, according to numerous reports by friends on social media.

He had been in declining health.

Adiarte's whipcord precision and verve made him a highly sought-after dancer in the '50s and '60s, and secured his presence in an array of pop culturally significant TV shows, films, and Broadway musicals.

Born August 2, 1942, in Manila, he emigrated to the U.S. and began his career in the cast of the original production of "The King and I" on Broadway in 1951. He played a different part, Prince Chulalongkorn ,in the iconic "The King and I" (1956) movie, among a cast that included Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, and Rita Moreno.

He repeated his performance as Chulalongkorn in that year's Broadway revival of the show, and shortly thereafter was granted U.S. citizenship with the aid of Sen. John F. Kennedy.

In 1958, Adiarte was cast as Wang San in Broadway's "Flower Drum Song" by director Gene Kelly. Adiarte made an electrifying appearance on the TV show "Omnibus" in a sequence entitled "Dancing, a Man's Game" alongside Kelly, who said, "If there's gonna be another Fred Astaire, I think it might well be Pat." The two then danced together, demonstrating how tap moves had originated vs. how they had progressed and modernized, with Kelly representing the old and Adiarte the new.

After appearing in the Blake Edwards comedy "High Time" with Bing Crosby, Fabian and Tuesday Weld in 1960, he revisited his role in "Flower Drum Song" for the 1961 silver-screen version starring Nancy Kwan and James Shigeta.

Also in 1961, Adiarte played the Prince in a TV version of "The Enchanted Nutcracker" with Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence.

Adiarte put his dancing (and singing) skills to the test as a regular on the fondly remembered dance series "Hullabaloo" (1965-1966) and also demonstrated a breakneck interpretation of "Gotta Dance!" with Virginia Wing on "Show Street" (1965) at a time when Asians on TV were often relegated to stereotypical roles.

He attempted a singing career with the single "Five Different Girls" in 1965, also cutting the tracks "Where You Gettin' Your Kicks Now?," "Move," and "Don't Let This Room Become Your World" that year.

One of his most instantly recognizable appearances was playing construction gofer David on two of the Hawaiian-themed episodes of "The Brady Bunch" in 1972. Adiarte's character, drafted by his boss to serve as a tour guide to the Bradys, was a modern Hawaiian who didn't believe in "foolish old stories and superstitions," scoffing at the Brady boys for being convinced an idol they found was cursed. Soon after, the family encountered mysterious problems, ranging from a tarantula crawling up Peter's chest to Alice throwing her back out in a hula lesson to Greg nearly drowning in a surfing wipeout.

Adiarte also played Ho-Jon on seven episodes of "M*A*S*H" (1972-1973) and acted on "Kojak" (1974).

After that, he retired from screen work and focused on dance instruction. As of several years ago, Adiarte was still cutting an impressive figure on the dance floor.

Adiarte was married to actress Loni Ackerman from 1975-1992. He is survived by his niece and his nephew.