Jack Lord was a television actor that was best known to audiences for
playing the character of Steve McGarrett on the hit program Hawaii Five-O.
The actor passed away before the dawn of the millennium and was survived by no children,
though he did have a son earlier in his life that tragically passed away.
Join Facts Verse as we explore how Jack Lord lost his only son, then everything got worse.
Jack Lord Didn’t Become a Star Overnight Undoubtedly, Jack Lord remains best known
for his work on the classic cop show Hawaii Five-O. However, not many people know that the
star had actually been at it in the acting game for over a decade before the role ended up coming
his way. The role turned out to be the fledgling actor’s big break and rocketed him to
superstardom. Given all that he had been through up until that point, he deserved the success.
Hawaii Five-O came on the air in 1968 and quickly made Jack Lord a superstar, though
the actor had first started acting professionally during the early 1950s. Jack acted on Broadway
earlier in his career, and he would branch out into writing and directing after receiving his
role on Hawaii Five-O. Despite all of his many accomplishments, there was one thing that Jack was
sorely missing by the end of his life, and that thing was a child to survive him upon his passing.
Jack Lord was born on December 30, 1920, in Brooklyn, New York. His father owned a
freighting business, and Jack could oftentimes be found helping out with the business after school.
This allowed the young boy to help develop his practical skills, while his passion for painting
helped develop his artistic skills. While working with his father, Jack found himself especially
captivated by the sea and loved to paint pictures of it when he got home. As Jack grew older,
his passion for the sea would inspire him to attend the Fort Trumbull U.S. Merchant Marine
Academy, which was located in London. There, he dedicated himself to maritime studies.
Jack Lord’s First Passion Was the Sea
Following his education at the Fort Trumbull U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Jack Lord went
on to serve during World War II by building service bridges in Persia and helping out onboard
transport vessels throughout Europe. Following World War II, Jack returned to Fort Trumbull
and was put to work producing training films. It was this experience that granted Jack his first
taste of filmmaking, and he eventually came to decide that he might have a future as an actor.
It took many years for Jack Lord to become the superstar that he dreamed of being,
but he eventually accomplished this goal. Sadly, he had to sacrifice quite
a bit in order to get there. By the time Jack achieved celebrity status,
he was incredibly quiet regarding details from his past. A big part of the star wanting to
keep his lips sealed about the past came from a tragic incident involving his first wife and son.
Though Jack Lord essentially refused to speak on the matter while he was still alive, diehard
fans of the actor have still been able to deduce much of the actor’s life before
attaining superstardom. Before becoming a star, Jack was married. Though Jack had tried to keep
this a secret in the wake of the notoriety that he received from the success of Hawaii Five-O,
the secret inevitably came out via the tabloids.
The Story of Jack Lord’s First Wife and Only Son Since Jack Lord refused to speak on the matter
personally and tried to keep his early life as secret as possible, there are many specific
details about the actor’s first marriage and subsequent child that remain obscure. However,
what is known is that Jack’s first wife was a woman by the name of Ann Willard,
and the two met while on a cruise ship.
Jack Lord met first wife Ann Willard while he was on duty aboard a cruise ship. Ann was
merely a guest upon the ship, though the two hit it off almost instantly. Jack was won over
by Ann’s looks, while Ann couldn’t resist a man in uniform. The two then went on to tie
the knot sometime in the early 1940s, with some believing that the marriage occurred
in 1942 while others believe it occurred later, in 1944. Some variations of the
story also suggest that the two married on the very same cruise ship on which they met,
with their marriage ceremony being officiated by that ship’s captain.
Ann Willard had been born in Paris, France, in 1921,
though her father was a Brooklyn native that had worked as a civil engineer. The fact that
Ann’s father had come from Brooklyn gave Jack a means to relate to the woman, as he had come
from Brooklyn himself. Ann likely saw a bit of her father in the man, though marrying Jack
wouldn’t turn out to be the best choice for her future. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be
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A Couple of Things Came Between Jack and Ann Soon after Jack Lord tied the knot
with their first wife Ann Willard, he was called away on duty and had to say goodbye to her for the
time being. Only a few months later, Jack received word from his new wife that she had become
pregnant. Given that Jack was still busy with his service, Ann went to go live with her parents
in France so that they could help her through the pregnancy. Jack’s son ended up being born
without any complications, and Ann chose to name the boy after his father. However,
as time went on, Ann began to grow upset about how little Jack came to visit his new family.
Apparently, Jack Lord only saw his son one single time. As a result of Jack being
unable to be there for her and her newborn son, Ann Willard ended up asking him for
a divorce. Ann had flirted with the notion of divorce previously and had even mentioned the
prospect of divorce in the letter she had written to Jack informing him that she was
pregnant and was going to go live with her parents in France. Ann had little interest in raising her
child in the United States, which is where Jack was planning on heading after World War II.
Perhaps it was Ann’s initial mentioning of divorce that made Jack Lord not try harder
to see his son during the time that he and his wife were still married. However, Jack
would come to regret this decision immensely in the wake of a tragedy that occurred many years
later. Shortly before Jack’s son’s 13th birthday, the boy tragically passed away.
No One Knows for Sure How Jack’s Son Died As with the specific year of Jack Lord
and Ann Willard’s marriage, the exact cause of Jack’s son’s death remains relatively obscure.
Some suggest that the boy had been sickly throughout the majority of his life and didn’t
end up succumbing until he was 12. Others suggest that he may have died as a result of drowning.
However, the story that seems to have the most credibility of all is the theory that
Jack passed away as a result of hepatitis. There are records showing that the boy was
hospitalized with hepatitis shortly before his death, though there are no official documents
tying the two things together. There was also an issue with hurricanes in the area
where the young boy and his mother were living around the time of his death, and
these hurricanes were known to have killed several people.
Whether Jack Lord’s son died from drowning, hepatitis, a hurricane, or as a result of
an illness that he had been suffering from throughout the majority of his life, the results
were the same. Jack Lord had lost his only son,
and the future star would never go on to have any more kids.
Despite the tragedy that they had to suffer through regarding the death of their son, both
Jack Lord and Ann Willard ended up remarrying and finding happiness with other people.
Ann married a man and ended up moving to the United States
with him, even though her not wanting to move to the United States had apparently been a big part
of her wanting to divorce Jack. Ann and the man lived happily ever after until the woman’s death
in 2004. Although she was married to her new husband for many years, Ann never had another kid.
Details About Jack Lord’s Later Life The woman that Jack Lord went on to
marry after divorcing Ann Willard was an actress by the name of Marie De Narde,
who played a big part in helping the fledgling star finally become the successful actor that he
wanted to be. The two tied the knot in 1949, and they remained married until Jack’s death in 1998.
Despite being married for nearly half of a century, Jack and Marie never ended up
having any kids. They had tried to once, though this ill-fated pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.
After suffering through this miscarriage, Marie vowed that she never wanted to try again.
Jack Lord already had a lifetime’s worth of pain behind him by the time that he received the role
of Steve McGarrett on Hawaii Five-O. The show ran from 1968 to 1980. After becoming a superstar,
Jack tried his absolute best to keep his tragic past a secret from his fans,
though they ended up finding out via the aforementioned tabloids. Many years later,
the actor passed away in 1998 as a result of heart failure.
Although Hawaii Five-O’s Jack Lord had a long and successful career, he felt a great deal of
emptiness towards the end of his life due to the fact that he had no children to survive him. Now
it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Hawaii Five-O’s Jack Lord had to suffer through
the death of his only son and that he didn’t receive his breakout role
on that classic cop show until he had already been struggling for success for
over a decade? As always, like this video to show your support, subscribe and hit the notification
bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their
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