John Joseph Patrick Ryan (December 30, 1920 – January 21, 1998), best known by his stage name, Jack Lord, was an American television, film and Broadway actor, director and producer.

As a child, Lord developed equestrian skills on his mother's fruit farm[4] in the Hudson River Valley.

He started spending summers at sea, and from the decks of cargo ships[5] painted and sketched the landscapes he encountered—Africa, the Mediterranean and China.

Lord was then cast as Brick[15] as a replacement for Ben Gazzara in the 1955–1956 production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

In 1962, Lord starred as series namesake Stoney Burke,[22] a rodeo cowboy from Mission Ridge, South Dakota.

Lord credited Gary Cooper as his on-screen role model[9] and the inspiration for his characterization of Stoney Burke.

Other television guest appearances include Appointment with Adventure, The Americans, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The High Chaparral, Combat!, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Reporter starring Harry Guardino, The Fugitive, The Invaders, Rawhide, Ironside, and The F.B.I.

[25] According to William Shatner,[26] in 1966, Gene Roddenberry offered Lord the role of Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek to replace Jeffrey Hunter, whose wife was making too many demands.

To execute this concept, permission was first secured from Lord's estate, managed by a bank that required a script review.

His first professional sale was in 1941 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for his two linoleum cuts, entitled Vermont and Fishing Shacks, Block Island.

On August 24, 1955, his son died, aged 12 years, following a brief battle with hepatitis (he is buried in Fairfield County, Connecticut [state file number 14006]).

[32] On January 17, 1949, Lord married fashion designer Marie de Narde (1905-2005), a job she gave up to devote her time to him and his career.

Lord suffered from Alzheimer's disease for at least seven years before his death, although some accounts have suggested that he may have had the illness as early as the final season of Hawaii Five-O, in 1979.

[34][35] He died of congestive heart failure at his home in Honolulu, on January 21, 1998, at the age of 77, leaving an estate of $40 million.

[36] A bronze bust of Lord by Hawaii sculptor Lynn Weiler Liverton was unveiled in a ceremony at the Kahala Mall outside Macy's on June 19, 2004.