‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Actor Killed by Shark While Surfing: Tamayo Perry Was 49

Lifeguard and actor Tamayo Perry, who appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and more, died following a shark attack in Hawaii over the weekend. Perry, who worked as a City and County of Honolulu Ocean Safety lifeguard, was fatally injured in the incident while surfing near Goat Island on Sunday afternoon, Shayne Enright of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department said, per the Associated Press. He was 49.

The incident was reported just before 1 p.m. local time by a bystander who reported having seen a man suffering from what appeared to be shark bites around Mālaekahana Beach on Oahu’s North Shore. Honolulu Ocean Safety and authorities with the city’s fire, police, and emergency medical services departments responded to the call, with rescuers bringing Perry, who was reportedly surfing during a break from his job as a lifeguard, to shore by jet ski. Paramedics assisted with the death pronouncement, Enright said. Shark warnings were posted in the area by Ocean Safety personnel following the attack.

“As you can imagine, this is [an] extremely difficult time for all of us,” Enright said during a press conference. “I ask for your kindness and your patience as we all just try to get through this next hour into these next weeks and months.”

Born in Oahu in 1975, Perry began surfing at the age of 12 and quickly became known as an “up-and-coming local boy who had to borrow surf boards because he had no sponsors,” per The Encyclopedia of Surfing. By 1997, he “had gone a long way to developing a tube riding style, combining traits from Gerry Lopez and Tom Carroll, his two favorite old-school Pipeline surfers,” and in 1999, Perry won the Pipeline Masters, an annual surfing competition held in Oahu. His life on the water also included being a lifeguard. He began his career with the Ocean Safety department in July 2016, with Honolulu Ocean Safety chief Kurt Lager saying during a press conference that Perry was “a lifeguard loved by all.”

“He’s well known on the North Shore. He’s a professional surfer known worldwide,” Lager said. “Tamayo’s personality was infectious and as much as people loved him, he loved everyone else more. Our condolences go out to Tamayo’s family.”

Perry was also an actor who notably portrayed a buccaneer in 2011’sPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment in the hit film franchise. His other acting credits include Blue Crush (2022) and Hawaii Five-O, per his IMDb profile, as well as Lost, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, and an international commercial for Nissan Xterra which aired during the NFL playoffs and Winter Olympics, according to The Sun.

Honolulu mayor Rick Blangiardi called Perry’s death “a tragic loss,” remembering him as “a legendary waterman and highly respected. [He] grew up right over here, and just a great member of our ocean safety team.”