Kaua‘i’s Elithe Aguiar Born and raised on Kaua‘i, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. August Aguiar of Kapa‘a, and blessed with beauty and musical, singing and dancing talent, Elithe Aguiar was crowned Miss Kaua‘i in 1963 and captured the title
Kaua‘i’s Elithe Aguiar
Born and raised on Kaua‘i, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. August Aguiar of Kapa‘a, and blessed with beauty and musical, singing and dancing talent, Elithe Aguiar was crowned Miss Kaua‘i in 1963 and captured the title of Miss Universe Hawai‘i in 1965.
Earlier, during filming on Kaua‘i of the movie “Blue Hawaii” in 1961, she became good friends with the film’s star, actor and rock ‘n’ roll singer Elvis Presley.
During a break in filming at Coco Palms, The Garden Island reporter “Sidelines” Kuraoka asked Elvis, who was an eligible bachelor at the time, what his idea of an ideal girl was, and Elvis pointed at Elithe.
Elithe recently shared that, “It took all Elvis could muster to call my father and get permission to date me. People thought that it was his irresistible southern charm that caused my father, a stern, upright, Christian rancher, to relent after a dozen refusals. But it was actually El’s God-fearing ways that finally got his ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ through the door.”
During the 1960s and 1970s, Elithe, who is of Hawaiian-Portuguese-Chinese descent, acted with Jack Lord, William Shatner and Jackie Cooper in the popular TV series “Hawaii Five-O” and played opposite actor Dennis Weaver in the TV series “McCloud.”
Her stage career includes performances as the featured entertainer at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the Princess Kaiulani Hotel and the Kahala Hilton Hotel.
Today, Elithe Manuhaaipo Kahn is kahu of a health care and healing center located on Merchant Street in downtown Honolulu, where she provides native Hawaiian therapies to balance mental, physical, emotional and spiritual human conditions. Elithe holds a BA in psychology from Hawaii Pacific University and a MA and Ph.D. in metaphysics. Specializing in Hawaiiana, she has authored several books.
Elithe and her husband reside in Honolulu.
