Thirty-five years ago this month the original "Hawaii Five-O" said aloha after 12 seasons on CBS. We look back at actor Jack Lord, who played Steve McGarrett during its run.
Lord was born John Joseph Patrick Ryan in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Dec. 30, 1920. He grew up in nearby Queens and attended John Adams High School. Lord played on the varsity football team, studied art and wrote an art column for his school newspaper. After graduating from high school in 1938, he began studying fine arts at New York University on a football scholarship. In just his teens, a handful of Lord’s works of art were acquired by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 1944, Lord married Ann Willard, and they had a son, John Ryan, who died at the age of 13.
Their marriage did not last long, and the couple divorced in 1947. Lord served with the Merchant Marines during World War II and completed his military obligations in 1948. He met Marie DeNarde, a fashion designer, and the couple married in 1949.
Lord sold cars at a showroom in Manhattan during the day and studied acting with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse at night. He also studied acting with Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman and Marlon Brando at the famous Actors Studio in New York.
During this time, New York was the hotbed for live television dramas, and Lord appeared in several shows and Broadway plays. The name Jack Lord came about because there already was a Jack Ryan registered with the actors union. His name was never legally changed to Jack Lord.
In 1954 Lord won a Theater World Award while appearing in the Broadway production of "The Traveling Lady."
The following year he appeared with Gary Cooper in "The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell." He did another Western movie, "Man of the West," with his mentor Cooper.
In the late 1950s Lord moved to Hollywood and received his biggest career boost by appearing as Felix Leiter in the first James Bond film, "Dr. No," in 1962.
The same year, Lord was cast in the ABC TV series "Stoney Burke." The show was based on real-life rodeo champion Casey Tibbs. The series was a joy for Lord to play as he was able to indulge his love of riding horseback, which he had learned as a child on his mother’s family’s fruit farm in New York. Despite the series being canceled after one season, Lord toured the rodeo circuit for an additional two years for "Stoney Burke" fans, signing autographs, taking pictures and forming a musical group, the Wanderers.
During the mid-1960s Lord appeared in many TV movies and hit TV series, including "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," "The Fugitive," "Ironside" and "The F.B.I."
In 1967 Lord was cast as Steve McGarrett and filmed the "Hawaii Five-O" pilot in November. The series made its debut on CBS on Sept. 20, 1968.
When "Hawaii Five-O" executive producer and creator Leonard Freeman died in 1974, Lord took on producing and at times directing duties for the series.
"I’ve paid the price for the quality of the show. I have to watch everything that happens, and I have to speak my mind on everything. That’s why I’ve acquired the reputation I have, but it’s necessary to keep the quality up," said Lord in a 1977 Photoplay magazine interview.
But there was no denying Lord’s love for the islands.
"I love this beautiful land. There’s a sweetness, a gentleness, a naivete, a goodness. Kids come over with a bag of potato chips, then run shyly away, having given you a token of love. This show will be it for me. I’ll never leave the islands. They’ll have to carry me out," said Lord in a 1971 TV Guide interview.
Lord’s final work was a CBS pilot, "M Station Hawaii," which aired during the summer of 1980. Lord’s intention was to produce and appear in the series on occasion, but the show was not picked up by the network.
After retiring from acting, Lord seldom made public appearances but traveled and continued to pursue art.
On Jan. 21, 1998, Lord died of congestive heart failure in Honolulu. His ashes were spread in the water near his Kahala condo. Lord’s wife died in 2005 in Honolulu.
Lord amassed a fortune in excess of $40 million, which was donated to many local charities.
A.J. McWhorter, a collector of film and videotape cataloging Hawaii’s TV history, has worked as a producer, writer and researcher for both local and national media. Email him at flashback@hawaii.rr.com.
