LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Jack Lord
built 635 days ago
Jack Lord was born John Joseph Ryan, in a rowdy Irish neighborhood on Halsey Street in Brooklyn, on December 30, 1920. He attended John Adams High School in New York where he manifested talent in painting and woodcarving. With his characteristic lack of modesty, Jack likes to say that he was an artist before he was an actor. He entered New York University on an athletic scholarship and majored in Fine Arts. He served in the Navy during the Korean War. After his discharge from the Navy, Lord decided on an acting career.
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Born in Brooklyn, New York, Jack Lord was the son of Irish-American parents. His father, William Lawrence Ryan was a steamship company executive. He developed his equestrian skills on his mother's fruit farm in the Hudson River Valley. At the age of fifteen he started spending summers at sea, and from the deck of cargo ships, painted and sketched the landscapes he encountered — Africa, the Mediterranean and China. He was educated at John Adams High School in Ozone Park, New York, Fort Trumbull Merchant Marine Academy, then located in New London, Connecticut, graduating as an Ensign with a Third Mates License.
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HONOLULU (AP) - Jack Lord, whose gruff portrayal of a Hawaiian police chief helped turn ``Hawaii Five-0'' into one of television's longest running shows, died Thursday evening of heart failure. He was 77. Lord died at his Honolulu home with his wife, Marie, at his side. ``Jack loved acting and he loved these islands,'' Mrs. Lord said in a statement. ``Through all his years he was blessed with kindness, affection and support of many fans and friends. He always appreciated that and never forgot it.'' Lord portrayed Steve McGarrett, the no-nonsense head of a fictitious Hawaii state police force, for 12 years, ending in 1980.
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Jack Lord starred as the stolid, methodical, and downright intimidating Steve McGarrett, head of Hawaii's elite State Police Agency "Five-O". McGarrett was a very private man as far as his personal life is concerned... it is known that McGarrett was a former Naval Intelligence Officer. Jack Lord's portrayal of McGarrett was flawless. When he screeched up to a stop in that big, black Mercury - everyone KNEW who was in charge. McGarrett seldom showed emotion, and always was thinking, staying one step ahead of his adversaries. His arch enemy throughout the series was a criminal mastermind by the name of Wo Fat.
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In 1965, 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.
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After his retirement, Lord was a familiar figure around Honolulu, often seen wearing his trademark wide-brimmed plantation hat, zipping along the H-1 freeway in his white Cadillac sedan with the 5-O license plates. He continued to wear stage makeup in public and insisted on giving approval before photos of him were published. Known on the set as a taskmaster who strived for perfection, Lord worked closely with producer Leonard Freeman to create the show, and after Freeman's death in 1973, it was widely thought that he controlled the show, no matter who was producer.
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Jack Lord