 Ponce came to national attention in 1959 as the wise-cracking cab driver Kazuo Kim on the Warner Bros. detective series "Hawaiian Eye", which ran for four years on ABC.Kazuo Kim was known for his trademark straw hat and ubiquitous ukulele, as a sometimes informant for the detectives, or as he idly plucked the uke while leaning against his cab waiting for a fare.The show's intro showed Kazuo Kim floating in the ocean on an inner tube, wearing the hat and plucking his uke.