• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Jack Lord as Captain Kirk

Status
Not open for further replies.
I can see him as Kirk when looking at his cocky smile expression. But not beyond that. So definitely not a good Kirk to me, as he had more range than that.
 
Surely someone must have photoshopped jack lord into a Kirk scene by now

The source image seems to have vanished from the site that hosted it, but this Google search link should display a reasonably sized thumbnail of the original effort.

Jack Lord as Kirk

It should appear near the top. The one I have in mind is based upon the publicity photo of Shatner holding the 2nd pilot phaser rifle.

Sincerely,

Bill
 
Remember, too, that Jack Lord was playing a character. Steve McGarrett was the sort of tough-as-nails military guy that was common in the 50s and 60s and patterned more or less after Elliot Ness on The Untouchables. Unlike the clown in the current remake, this McGarrett was supposed to be incorruptible, ramrod straight, and completely dedicated to his sense of morality. He is the epitome of a hero. Hawaii 5-0 made him a father-figure to the men, especially Danny, instead of the Mutt-and-Jeff types in the remake. It wasn't meant to be an ensemble show so much as one with a supporting cast.

Sure, but Matt Dillon was also incorruptible and ramrod straight yet could still talk personally, take advice from or engage in funny banter with Doc, Chester, Kitty, Festus, Quint etc. Even the notoriously stiff Jack Webb would occasionally kid around as Friday on Dragnet and talk about life outside work. I have to believe some of McGarrett's "aloofness" goes back to Lord's personality.

Speaking of McGarrett's military basis, it was always kind of funny when they'd show him in his Naval Reserve uniform. First of all because they would cut away before he took off his cap and then in the next shot he'd have that perfect blow-dried and sprayed hair. And second, they loaded him up with decorations like some kind of legendary figure, the Navy Cross, Navy & Marine Corps Medal and two Legion of Merits IIRC.

Kudos to it, though, for making the other characters, like Chin-Ho, really people rather than just caricatures.

Yeah, "Five-O" was good that way, and also how they kept the secondary characters consistent and gave them some personality (Manicote, Che Fong, Jenny etc.) instead of using different day players. Duke even went from occasional street cop to full member of the team.
Lord did have his own acting style, which was a lot more like Robert Stack's from The Untouchables. But he could demonstrate more range, as might be seen in this Bonanaza clip from shortly before Hawaii 5-0 premiered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE8YeKwYzxI
 
So Jack Lord's hair vs. Shater's piece--who wins?

Lord's wins hands down. That stuff was so plastered down by hair spray that IIRC it was only wind blown once in 12 years. :)


Lord must have been having bad hair days when he wore that dorky white hat.
 
He didn't quite have the hair in the earlier episodes, but more of a standard pompadour that seemed to get exaggerated as the years wore on and became his signature style.
 
He didn't quite have the hair in the earlier episodes, but more of a standard pompadour that seemed to get exaggerated as the years wore on and became his signature style.

Yeah, that's how it seemed to be in TV land back then. The show runs longer, the hair gets longer, the ties and lapels got wider...
 
I can't really picture Jack Lord as Captain Kirk, but maybe he could have played the stoic, serious Mr. Spock. I also have trouble with the ST producers considering Lloyd Bridges as Kirk. Lloyd Bridges?!?!
 
I can't really picture Jack Lord as Captain Kirk, but maybe he could have played the stoic, serious Mr. Spock. I also have trouble with the ST producers considering Lloyd Bridges as Kirk. Lloyd Bridges?!?!

Lloyd did a lot of serious 'action' roles before he went to comedy. He played the scuba diver Nelson on tv before trek.
 
I can't really picture Jack Lord as Captain Kirk, but maybe he could have played the stoic, serious Mr. Spock. I also have trouble with the ST producers considering Lloyd Bridges as Kirk. Lloyd Bridges?!?!
Lloyd did a lot of serious 'action' roles before he went to comedy. He played the scuba diver Nelson on tv before trek.

I always confused him with Spencer Tracy.
 
Lloyd did a lot of serious 'action' roles before he went to comedy. He played the scuba diver Nelson on tv before trek.

It's interesting how many dramatic actors found new careers as comedy actors thanks to the Airplane! duology: Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, William Shatner. Well, Shatner did plenty of comedy on TOS, but it was in Airplane 2 and after that he found new popularity through self-satire.
 
I can't picture Lord as Kirk either.

There are a few that I could see.

What about Gary Lockwood? He was in Roddenberry's "The Lieutenant," and of course, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "2001: A Space Odyssey."
 
Jim Kirk and Jim West are basically the same character if he'd lived in different centuries. Kirk is more intellectual and (relatively) more respectful to women, but that's a function of growing up in more enlightened times.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top