Star-Bulletin

Waikiki entertainer and ventriloquist Freddie Morris,
shown here with his stage dummy Moku Kahana in 1985,
died last night at Castle Hospital. He was 39.

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Isle ventriloquist
Freddie Morris dies after
20 years of entertaining

Star-Bulletin

Waikiki entertainer and ventriloquist Freddie Morris died last night at Castle Hospital after suffering a seizure.

Morris, 39, suffered from a seizure disorder for the past two years, according to his manager Shauna Tabor. Morris collapsed at his home last night and was taken to Castle, where he died.

Funeral services are pending.

Morris had been a ventriloquist since he was 7.

Kimo McVay said he began managing Morris more than 20 years ago after seeing his show at a Waikiki coffee shop. "He was a ventriloquist, and I wasn't too thrilled about ventriloquists," McVay said. "He had a dummy whom he called Archie, and I wasn't that impressed with the dummy, but the audience loved him.

"After I decided to manage him, we decided to change the dummy and we created Moku Kahana. We sent the manufacturer pictures of various famous Hawaiians and Hawaiian entertainers.

"It was later that I realized that the name Moku Kahana is Kahanamoku spelled backwards. It must have been a Freudian slip because I had been a close friend of Duke Kahanamoku. . . ."

"(Morris) was the nicest, loving and caring individual."

Morris appeared on Channel 9's Checkers and Pogo afternoon kids' television show during his nearly two decades in entertainment.

A partial list of survivors include two sisters, Denise and Joy; and several brothers including Bobby and Barry.