Later, when Cooper has the chance,
he catches up with the despicable Lord and, in a highly memorable sequence, starts whipping the hell out of him, wrestling and punching him, then forcibly yanking his shoes and most of his clothes off in front of his gang as he writhes in utter humiliation. This being 1958, he only gets down to his torn trousers and underwear, but the scene is intense (and obviously a bit homoerotic!)
Re-teamed with Robert Taylor and Tina Louise, he played in
The Hangman as a criminal sought by Taylor, but who is so popular and well liked by the people of the town that they won’t lift a finger to aid Taylor in pursuing him. It was yet another bad guy part, but one with some degree of charisma at least. Lord continued to guest star on many TV shows in between films, keeping incredibly busy.
1960 brought the unusual western
tale
Walk Like a Dragon, written and directed by James Clavell, who often explored Asian-themed stories. This time Lord was the star of the piece. He played a California rancher who comes upon a Chinese girl for sale as a slave at auction. Fearing what might happen to her should she be purchased by the wrong man, he buys her and takes her home to live freely in his home. Once they fall in love, however, his mother Josephine Hutchinson and his Chinese associate James Shigeta disapprove heartily. One of the film’s amusing distinctions is that it features singer-songwriter Mel Torme as a parson-turned-gunslinger!
After more television work, Lord landed the role of Felix Leiter in the very first James Bond film
Dr. No. As an American agent working with Britain’s 007 Sean Connery, he was a fairly significant presence in this first installment. The character was to be used again (and was, with a wide variety of actors playing him), but reportedly Lord was not cast a second time because he wanted co-star billing and better pay. Instead, the role was never quite as prominent in the series as this time out. I must say that Lord’s sunglasses are downright preposterous looking, 1962 or not, and that his colorful shirt and Panama-style hat are a foreshadowing of what would become part of his wardrobe later in Hawaii.
Lord was the title character of his own TV series in the 1962-63 season.
Stoney Burke was a contemporary western that ran for 32 episodes and had him playing a rodeo rider traveling the circuit in a quest to win the champion prize, The Golden Buckle. His sidekick on the show was played by talented character actor Warren Oates and Bruce Dern also appeared on it. Lord made sure that the potentially rugged character was in fact very gentlemanly, allowing Oates to steal scenes with his crafty personality. A show with some degree of veiled mythology and religious overtones to it, it failed to catch on with most viewers, though those who liked it loved it.
Again, after a plethora of guest roles on shows like
Wagon Train,
Laredo,
The Virginian and
The Fugitive, Lord appeared in another feature film.
Ride to Hangman’s Tree had him top-billed with a supporting cast that included James Farentino, Don Galloway and Richard Anderson. It was an exceptionally minor offering, however, and practically forgotten today. Another obscure film,
The Counterfeit Killer, followed,
but it has a slightly better reputation. That one costarred Miss Shirley Knight, Jack Weston, Charles Drake and Lord’s
Dr. No costar (who played Dr. No!) Joseph Wiseman. It does, however, contain one hooty scene of Lord riding a motorbike with mod, too-small goggles against a chintzy rear-projection. It’s a surprise that the rough ‘n ready (not to mention particular!) actor didn’t coerce the producers into shooting it on location with him.
By this time, however, Lord had begun to lose faith in the business that occupied his time, in terms of providing the sort of acting challenges and variety he craved. While he did get to portray a variety of types on series such as
Ironside,
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and
The High Chaparral, real success in the business had eluded him. H
e had been approached in 1964 to portray Captain Kirk on
Star Trek, but when he made too many demands with regards to salary and co-ownership, Gene Roddenberry balked. He was ready, at forty-eight by 1968, to see some of the fruits of his labor.
It came in the form of pineapple, so to speak. Writer-Producer Leonard Freeman was developing a TV series set in the newest of the fifty United States, Hawaii. Later to be dubbed
Hawaii 5-O, he wanted craggy actor Richard Boone, who resided there, to play the lead role of State Police Detective Steve McGarrett. Boone took a pass on the project, so Freeman then (after also approaching Gregory Peck) turned to another actor he knew, one who could easily convey the stern authoritarianism he wanted in the part, Jack Lord.
From the very start,
Hawaii 5-O was a dazzlingly different sort of show. With a stunning Morton Stevens theme song playing against an opening credits sequence
done by Reza Badiyi that was faster and more rapidly edited than any before it, it captivated audiences in the continental U.S. who could only dream of making it over to the islands. Filmed entirely on location, it utilized the outdoors more than most shows and was a polished, sharp, slickly put together crime drama.
More importantly, in hindsight, it was by far one of the most racially diverse shows to have hit the airwaves. Hawaiians, Japanese, Chinese and other nationalities were represented heavily in the regular and guest cast, even if there was a strong preponderance of Caucasians on screen as well (in a higher percentage than what the island contained in real life at that time.)
There was no mistaking, however, that the primary star of the series was Lord. It was his face that kicked off the names in the credits with the others coming near the end almost as afterthoughts. Every story, for the most part, featured him as the one who knew what to do, figured out what was happening, got the job done and so on. His chief sidekick James MacArthur (as cute, loyal Danny Williams) became a breakout star as well, but Lord was careful to ensure his place at the head of the totem pole.
McGarrett was no-nonsense and tough. He could be polite with the public, especially ladies, but with his staff it was “Head to the dock,” “Go get him” and “Pick him up” and the like, rarely, if ever, with a please or a thank you. He worked his staff like dogs in order to solve crimes swiftly and effectively. This was not tremendously different in real life,
for Lord was a doggedly dedicated actor when it came to professionalism and perfection whenever possible. Producer Freeman began to have serious heart trouble in 1970 and turned to Lord as a co-producer (something Lord hadn’t even asked for this time, having lost out on
Star Trek over such demands.) When Freeman died of a heart attack in 1974, Lord took up the reins and continued the show under his own leadership.
There were notorious battles with CBS, the network that ran the show, as Lord fought hard to protect the integrity of the show and his image. Years later, several of the cast and crew of the show admitted that his exacting nature and commitment to quality
are what led the series to last twelve seasons (a record for a crime show until
Law & Order well surpassed that), but at the time it could be difficult to endure. In a nod to his early days as a Ford salesman, every car McGarrett ever drove on the show was a Ford model.
As the series progressed, Lord continued to wear his customary dark suits (at odds with the weather in Hawaii) and sport one of the swoopiest manes of hair ever seen. It seemed to get bigger with each passing year, cascading over his forehead like one of the massive waves seen in the opening credits. In time, he began sporting off-duty clothing in some episodes, much of it unintentionally hilarious. Even though people in the islands can get a pass when it comes to colorful,
loud shirts, his stuff seemed particularly garish (even though it was the 1970s!) Many of these concoctions were courtesy of his wife, Marie, who seemed to delight in gussying the two of them up in bright, exotic clothing.
Always one to pay attention to his health and appearance (after all, his first significant film role in 1955 came when he was already thirty-five years old!), Lord was known to wake every day at 4:30am and run for a mile before reporting to the studio. He then went to bed with his wife around 9:00. He claimed to love the Hawaiian sunrises and saw no need to stay awake much longer than after it had set.
The series lasted until 1980 when some major
cast changes and a shift in what was now popular signaled the end. McGarrett and his catchphrase “Book ‘em, Danno” (which he didn’t say in every episode, though often there would be a variation of it) had become instantly recognizable icons and part of TV history. More than that, thanks to his investment in the show and its resultant success, Lord became a very wealthy man. He and Marie never stopped living in Hawaii after the cancellation, having moved there permanently two years in, and became heavily integrated into their surroundings. He was deeply touched to be the first Caucasian chosen to be Grand Marshall of the Aloha Parade.
Lord continued to paint, having a special fondness for the colorful and varied flowers of Hawaii,
but he also took an interest in helping the people of his new homeland. He established a foundation that would benefit a dozen local charities. Starting with $50,000 the fund eventually grew to three-quarters of a million dollars. That was peanuts, however, to what he left the state in his will. Though Marie was beneficiary until her own death, when she passed away in 2003, twelve Hawaiian charitable organizations were given FORTY MILLION DOLLARS!
Regardless of what some of his detractors might have felt (and there is no question that he was a perfectionist and force to be reckoned with), he clearly had an unwavering affection for the state he made his home and for the people in it. Thanks to the endowments
from his will, many people there have had their lives affected in a very positive way.
He worked in very many TV projects throughout the mid 50s and early 60s, in everything from anthologies like Suspense, Danger and Climax! to westerns like Have Gun – Will Travel, Gunsmoke and Rawhide.
