 Photo
of Jack Lord, at age 17, from his John Adams HS Yearbook and his Football
Team Photo at John Adams HS (reclining in foreground).
In June 1938, when he was 17, Jack graduated from John
Adams High -- with a variety of honors. The Senior Issue of the school's
yearbook, The Clipper, carries a lengthy roster of his achievements:
RYAN, JOHN -- Bronze, Silver "A"s; Honor, Meritorious, Distinguished
Service Certificates; Senior Life Saving; Major "A"; Intramurals;
P.S.A.L. Pins; Varsity Football Team; Dean's Squad; Art Editor, "Campus
Clipper" Art Staff; Art Office; Key of Courtesy, President, Student
Supervisor Arts and Crafts, Secretary Newman, Etching, Young Scientists
Clubs. -- New York University.
After the hit TV Show "Hawaii Five-O" ran its course,
Lord virtually retired form acting to concentrate on a career as an
artist. His paintings not only sold for high amounts, but also hang
in more than 40 museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, the Whitney Museum and the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York,
the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris, and the Library of Congress.
Jack Lord Trivia
-
Traci Lords derived her stage name from the last
name of her favorite actor.
 Among
his many films, Jack Lord's film credits also include "Dr. No"
(1962), the first James Bond movie, in which he played CIA agent Felix
Leiter.-
Jack Lord was considered for the role of Captain
Kirk on Star Trek; the role ultimately went to William Shatner.
Because Lord wanted to co-produce and have a percentage in ownership
of the series, he was ultimately rejected by both Gene Roddenberry
and Desilu Studios.
- During his time in Hawaii, Jack had established himself not only
as the star of a successful series, but a "Supersalesman of the
Islands!" If you ask the Hawaii Visitors Bureau to name Hawaii’s
prime asset and tourist attraction, they will cry out in union –
"Jack Lord!"
|
About Jack Lord, Actor and Artist
Born in Brooklyn, NY - 1920
Died in Honolulu, Hawaii - 1998
Real Name - John Ryan
"Book 'em, Danno!"
The following information is excerpted from the Jack Lord Biography
at Hollywood.com,
and a fan website of Jack Lord at http://www.thejacklordconnection.com/
Jack Lord was born John Joseph Patrick Ryan, in Brooklyn, on December
20, 1920, second son of William and Ellen Ryan, and grew up at 97-25
125th Street in Morris Park, New York.
Although Jack Lord had a vast acting career, he is best known as Lt.
Steve McGarrett on the long-running CBS TV series "Hawaii Five-O" (1968-80),
which he also produced.
Before Jack Lord became a "Hollywood Movie Star Actor", Jack grew up
as John Ryan in Morris Park, Queens, NY (now known as Richmond Hill)
on 125th Street near Atlantic Avenue, and attended St.
Benedict Joseph Labre School and John Adams High School.
His childhood dream was to follow in his big brother Bill's footsteps
as an artist and to travel across the seas.
During his four years at NYU, majoring in Art on a Football Scholarship,
Jack and brother Bill opened their Village Academy of Arts where they
directed art courses, and Jack's intention heightened to follow his
childhood dream. In 1941 the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired two
of his linoleum cuts, entitled "Vermont" and "Fishing Shacks, Block
Island".
Until he graduated in 1942, he continued his sea journeys during the
summers and then served in the merchant marine throughout World War
II.
When World War II ended, Jack spent a year in Persia as a steel worker
with the US Engineering Department. Returning home in 1946, he worked
for a couple of years with the US Maritime Service in Washington --
making maritime training films. This consisted of his being photographed
by movie cameras while splicing lines, launching lifeboats and illustrating
other duties of a deckhand. After he finished some 25 of these movie-manuals,
it occurred to him that acting might be an interesting way to make a
living. He tucked a can of film under his arm and began making the rounds
of New York theatrical agents. He also began serious study with drama
coach Sanford Meisner.
Billed under his real name, Jack Ryan, he had bit parts in two 1949
films: "The Red Menace" and "Project X".
By 1955, Jack succeeded Ben Gazzara on Broadway in the leading role
of Brick in Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and Hollywood
beckoned. Now using the stage name Jack Lord, which he chose in part
because there was already another actor registered with the name Jack
Ryan, and also he felt a shorter name like Lord would fit nicely on
a Marquee, which was a name found in his ancestry line.
From 1955-59 Jack was in many films such as "The Court Martial
of Billy Mitchell" (1955), "Tip on a Dead Jockey" (1957),
and "God's Little Acre" (1958). That same year, he had his
first real leading role in "The True Story of Lynn Stuart",
but it was really Betsy Palmer's picture; Lord was merely the drug-selling
thug she uses in her quest for revenge.
With movie stardom proving elusive, Lord turned to television, where
he had been making guest appearances since 1956, often cast as villains
in Westerns. His first regular series role was as the champion rodeo
rider "Stoney Burke" (ABC, 1962-63). Five years later, the actor landed
a second series, "Hawaii Five-O", about state police working directly
for the governor. Lord jumped at the chance and also signed on as producer
of the series, which was shot entirely in Hawaii.
Although hardly an award-winner, and said to be disliked by CBS founder
William S Paley, the police show was a huge ratings success and made
Lord a TV star. His catchphrase to sidekick James MacArthur, "Book
'em, Danno!", entered into TV history.
Early in his career, he met his wife, Marie, who gave up her own career
to support him in his struggling acting career. They married on January
17th, 1949 and remained a close, dedicated, and loving couple throughout
their lives.
Jack Lord died of congestive heart failure at his Honolulu home with
his wife, Marie, at his side. He was 77.
Marie passed on in 2005. |
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