"Book 'em Dano." - as Steve McGarrett from Hawaii Five-O Jack Lord was considered for the part of Captain Kirk in Star Trek (1966), but was rejected by Gene Roddenberry and Desilu Studios because Lord also wanted to be co-producer, and own a percentage of the series. Jack Lord will probably be best remembered as Steve McGarrett in the long running television series Hawaii Five-O (1968), but he was much more than that. Lord starred in several movies, directed several episodes of his show, was in several Broadway productions, and was an accomplished artist. Two of his paintings were acquired by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum of Modern Art by the time he was twenty. The son of William Lawrence Ryan, steamship company executive Lord learned his equestrian skills at his mother's fruit farm in the Hudson River Valley. At age 15 he started spending summers at sea in the Merchant Marine, and from the deck of ships, painted and sketched the landscapes he encountered in Africa, China and the Mediterranean. During World War II he served in the Merchant Navy. While making maritime training films during the Korean War he took to the idea of acting. This is when he decided to attend the Neighborhood Playhouse, working as a Cadillac salesman in New York to fund his studies. Later, at the Actor's Studio, he studied with Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, and Marilyn Monroe. His first work on Broadway was in, "Traveling Lady", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"; followed by his first in Hollywood, "Court Martial of Billy Mitchell" with Gary Cooper. Lord was the first actor to play CIA Agent Felix Leiter in the "official" James Bond films, beginning with Dr. No (1962 above). He was about to reprise the role of in Goldfinger (1964), but producer Albert R. Broccoli feared that his portrayal of 007's CIA partner would overshadow the persona of James Bond as the main character or maybe Lord asked for more money and a better billing. In any case the character was recast, with Cec Linder as the new Leiter. A dedicated liberal activist, Lord was a vocal advocate of gun control in the United States and his estate donated $40 million to the Hawaii Community Foundation. Lord was also known for being a very cultured man who loved reading poetry out loud on the set of his Hawaii Five-O and as being somewhat reclusive at his Honolulu home until his death January 21st 1998 of congestive heart failure. Selected Jack Lord TVography 12 O'Clock High - Face of a Shadow (1966) - Big Brother (1965) Appointment with Adventure - Five in Judgment (1955) Bonanza - The Outcast (1960) Cain's Hundred - Dead Load: Dave Braddock (1961) Checkmate - The Star System (1962) Climax! - Mr. Runyon of Broadway (1957) Combat! - The Linesman (1965) Dr. Kildare - A Willing Suspension of Disbelief (1964) The F.B.I. - Collision Course (1966) The Fugitive - Goodbye My Love (1967) The Greatest Show on Earth - Man in a Hole (1964) Gunsmoke - Doc's Reward (1957) Have Gun - Will Travel - Three Bells to Perdido (1957) Hawaii Five-O - series star as Det. Steve McGarrett (1968-1980) The High Chaparral - The Kinsman (1968) The Invaders - Vikor (1967) Ironside - Dead Man's Tale (1967) Kraft Suspense Theatre - The Long Ravine (1965) Laredo - Above the Law (1966) Letter to Loretta - Marriage Crisis (1959) Lux Video Theatre - Old Acquaintance (1956) - Jezebel (1956) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - The Master's Touch Affair (1967) The Millionaire - Millionaire Lee Randolph (1958) Naked City - The Human Trap (1960) Outlaws - The Bell (1961) Playhouse 90 - Reunion (1958) - Lone Woman (1957) Rawhide - Incident of His Brother's Keeper (1961) - Incident of the Calico Gun (1959) The Reporter - How Much for a Prince? (1964) Route 66 - Play It Glissando (1961) The Silent Service - The Loss of the Perch (1957) Stoney Burke - series star as Stoney Burke (1962-1963) Stagecoach West - The Butcher (1961) - House of Violence (1961) Studio One - A Day Before Battle (1956) - An Incident of Love (1956) U.S. Marshal - Sentenced to Death (1958) The Untouchables - The Jake Lingle Killing (1959) The Virginian - High Stakes (1966) Wagon Train - The Echo Pass Story (1965) slideshow