‘Some of the guys were scared of me’

Press, 20 June 1984, Page 14

‘Some of the guys were scared of me’

After making more than 260 episodes, Jack Lord, the star of the “Hawaii Five-O” series, has decided to call it a day. “There were so many other things I wanted to do with my time,” he says.

From

JOANNE WILLS

in Hawaii Stretched out on the terrace of his luxurious Hawaiian penthouse overlooking the Pacific, Jack Lord, star of the "Hawaii Five-0” series, sipped a freshly-crushed fruit juice—and looked remarkably slim, youthful and healthy for a man who admits to being 60. He pointed down at a beach-bar 200 metres away, centre of a flurry of activity involving spectators, television cameras and technicians.

“That’s where they shoot the ‘Magnum’ series,” he said, "and almost every man-jack of the production crew and supporting cast are guys who worked with me on ‘Hawaii Five-O’.” He dismissed gossip around the “Magnum” set that his old crew are far happier and more relaxed with “Magnum” than they were on “Hawaii Five-O.”

“I suppose some of the guys were pretty scared of me in the old days,” he said. “But I’ve never minded what people think about me—either to my face, or behind my back. “I’ve always expected total honesty, total dedication and total professionalism from everybody who has ever worked with me.

“I’ve always tried to give back all that I’ve received.” It is Jack Lord’s dedication and singlemindedness that have turned “Hawaii Five-O” into one of the most successful television series ever.

It has run for more than 260 episodes, has been screened in 80 countries throughout the world, and is still being shown for repeat series.

It is the action-packed, crime-busting drama series which still outruns everything else on the American network, apart from the

legendary “Gunsmoke.” The most surprising fact is that Jack Lord decided to quit when “Hawaii Five-O” was still topping the charts.

He explained his decision by saying: “Quite simply, I’d had enough of a good thing.

“There were so many other things that I wanted to do with my time that I decided to call it a day. “For years, I’d been working hard and long. I was on the set all day, six days a week, and the only day I had at home with my wife, Marie, was Sunday. “Even then, I was reading or editing scripts, preparing production notes and working on schedules. “The show was still at the

top and I decided that the best time to quit is when you’re winning.” Looking at Jack Lord now, with barely a tinge of grey in his hair and a tanned, muscular physique, it is hard to believe that it is almost 35 years since he decided to become an actor. He said that the moment that changed his life came when he was an American merchant navy officer on a few days’ shore-leave from his ship.

He was strolling through a small wood in rural New York state, a sketch-pad in hand, looking for subjects to draw, when he fell instantly in love with a small, stonebuilt cottage.

“I discovered that it was owned by a rather wealthy Manhattan socialite named Marie de Narde,” he said with a smile. “I wanted to rent the place—but I could never get near the girl. “The security guards in the lobby of her apartment kept chucking me out. Finally, with only hours before my ship sailed, she at last agreed to give me 10 minutes of her time.

“I almost missed by ship,” he said, "because I spent the next four hours in the company of the most beautiful girl in the world. And Marie became my wife.” After they married, Jack Lord quit the sea and originally planned to teach art but, instead, was persuaded to take up acting. Broadway productions, Hollywood movies and television dramas quickly shot him to success. Yet what still pleases him most of all is that, with success, his marriage has become even stronger and happier. “I’ve never fooled around with other women, because I still believe that Marie’s the most beautiful person I know,” he said. “She’s my rock—the-sta-bility in my life. She not only understands me perfectly, but she understands show business, and she also has the patience of a saint. “Believe me, she’s needed that patience on more than a few occasions.

“When we first married, we put off having children, because we didn’t want to start a family until my career got off the ground. “Then my career became so big and hectic that we still kept putting off that decision, because there wasn’t the time.

"Now, we have such a full and complete life that we haven’t really any regrets that we never started a family.” Features International