John Joseph Patrick Ryan

 John Joseph Patrick Ryan (December 30, 1920 – January 21, 1998), best known by his stage name, Jack Lord.

He was known for his starring role as Steve McGarrett in the CBS television program Hawaii Five-O, which ran from 1968 to 1980. He spent the first year of the United States' involvement in World War II with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, building bridges in Persia. While making maritime training films, he took to the idea of acting. Lord was also 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. He appeared on Broadway, replacing Ben Gazzara as Brick in the original production of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," before going to Hollywood. Lord appeared in several classic feature films, among them "Man of the West" (1958) starring Gary Cooper. Early in his career, he met his wife, Marie de Narde. He was a fine arts major at NYU and was there on a football scholarship. Marie soon left her career as a successful fashion designer, to support Jack in becoming an actor. He appeared in the movie "Dr. No," but mainly did television, where he was cast in a succession of villain roles. Through the late 1950s and 1960s, he made guest appearances on scores of TV series. His first starring role in a TV series was in the western, "Stoney Burke," which lasted only a year. When Hawaii Five-O creator Leonard Freeman died in 1974, the show's ownership was shared among Lord, CBS and Freeman's estate, with a contract that made Lord executive producer and gave him complete control over content. He was a hands-on partner who paid attention to minute details, and was known for battles with network executives.

After his series ended in 1980, Lord kept a low profile, rarely making public appearances. Lord suffered from Alzheimer's disease for at least seven years before his death. He was married twice, and had one child who died at age 13. Lord died of congestive heart failure at his home in Honolulu, on January 21, 1998, at age 77, leaving an estate of $40 million. He was a philanthropist and the entire estate went to Hawaiian charities upon his wife Marie's death in 2005.