Famous Hawaiians
Ellison Onizuka - Astronaut
Ellison Onizuka was a Japanese-American astronaut from Kealakekua, Kona, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on his first mission, before losing his life to the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, where he was serving as Mission Specialist. Onizuka was selected for the astronaut program in January 1978, and completed one year of evaluation and training in August 1979. He graduated from Konawaena High School in Kealakekua in 1964. He received a Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering in June 1969, and a Master's in that field in December of the same year, from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He participated in Air Force ROTC during his time there.
Tia Carrere - Famous Singer
Tia Carrere was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Although she was eliminated during the first round of her 1985 Star Search appearance at the age of 17, she was spotted by the parents of a local producer while shopping at a Waikiki grocery store and was cast in the movie Aloha Summer. Following this initial success, Carrere returned to Los Angeles and, after working several months as a model, landed a first ever role in the U.S. TV series Airwolf in early 1985. Her first major break though was in the daytime soap opera General Hospital. She played the role of Jade Soong Chung from 1985 to 1987. She also had a guest appearance on The A-Team, which was supposed to lead to her joining the cast. Unfortunately, her General Hospital obligations prevented her from joining the team. Carrere has continued to nurture her singing career. In 1993, her first solo album, Dream, was released, and went platinum in the Philippines. That same year, she was featured on the soundtrack of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, performing the ending theme, "I Never Even Told You". Her second album, Hawaiiana, was released in June 2007 and takes Carrere back to her Hawaiian roots with four-time Grammy Award winning record producer Daniel Ho accompanying her on classic solo slack-key guitar and ukulele. The album was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award under the category Best Hawaiian Music Album.
