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John Vivyan ( John R. Vukayan; May 31, 1915 – December 20, 1983)US Social Security Applications and Claim Index 1936-2007, retrieved fro
Ancestry.com
/ref> was an American stage and television actor, who was best known for portraying the title character in the television series '' Mr. Lucky''.


Early life

John R. Vukayan was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, to parents of Serbian background.US, World War II Draft Cards for Young Men, 1940-1947 for John Vukayan, retrieved fro
Ancestry.com
/ref> His family moved to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
when he was an infant. He attended the
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
on Schiller Street as a boy, where he sang in the choir. After a year at Lake View High School, he dropped out to start work. He was employed by the Continental Can Company in Chicago during October 1940, when he registered for the draft as John Vukayan. The Draft Registrar recorded him as being 6'3" and weighing 185 pounds, with brown eyes and hair, and a scar on his forehead.


Military service

Two months before his 26th birthday, on April 8, 1941, he enlisted in the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
.US, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, John R Vukayan, retrieved fro
Ancestry.com
/ref> His enlistment papers carried the name "John R. Vukayan", and noted he was a citizen, single, had completed one year of high school, and was semi-skilled in metal working. He was assigned to the 132nd Infantry Regiment ( Illinois National Guard), which deployed overseas to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in January 1942. From there his regiment moved to
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in March 1942, eventually forming part of the Americal Division. His regiment was sent to take part in the Battle of Guadalcanal on December 8, 1942, and within a week was engaged in fighting off Japanese infiltrators. John was a
corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...
with Company E of the 2nd Battalion, which was thrown into the Battle for Mt Austen on January 2, 1943. The battalion suffered heavy casualties during the fighting, one of whom was John, his left leg hit by gunfire.US, World War II Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954, for John R Vukayan, retrieved fro
Ancestry.com
/ref> Evacuated from the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
on January 6, 1943, he would spend the next fourteen months in Army hospitals recovering from his wounds. He later recounted that the Army doctors had several times considered amputating the leg. He was eventually moved stateside to a hospital in Michigan, where he recalled meeting actress
Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Michaela Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1989. She received numerous honors including an Academy Awards ...
when she visited wounded soldiers. Awarded a
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
and
Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...
he was judged unfit for further active service and was discharged from the Army on March 23, 1944. The injury to his left leg would continue to bother him and limit his physical activity for years to come.


Early stage career

While pondering his career options during his long convalescence, John became interested in the theater. In June 1946 he starts appearing as "John Vivyan" among the cast of the Barter Theatre group's junior company, at the "Barter Colony" near
Abingdon, Virginia Abingdon is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Virginia, United States, southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. The town encompasses several historically significant sites and features a fine arts a ...
. The circumstances of his stage name's adoption are not known, and from later sources it is apparent he retained "John R. Vukayan" as his legal name until at least 1960. The Barter Theatre provided free room and board for prospective actors but no pay. When not performing, they were expected to help out with sets, lighting, and costumes, as well as work in the lodging and cafeteria used by the troupe. It was a lifestyle that appealed to many recently discharged veterans, thirty-six of whom, including Vivyan, were inducted into the
American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...
at a ceremony in July 1946. Performances had short runs, often no more than two evenings and a matinee. At the time, the Barter Theatre group had no venue of its own, so plays were performed at the Municipal Theatre in nearby Abingdon. The Barter Theatre performers also entertained at local social clubs; Vivyan sang Serbian folk songs at one such event. Vivyan finished out his time with the Barter Theatre group during a 1946-47 winter tour of Virginia and South Carolina, in which the troupe alternated the plays '' Arms and the Man'' and ''
Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...
''.


Summer stock and New York television

In 1947, Vivyan moved to
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. He used his
G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...
money to pay for lessons at the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...
there. After graduating, however, he was unable to find any acting jobs. He later told an interviewer that this was a grim period in his life. He scraped by on doing summer stock theatre, performing work disdained by established actors for its low pay and grueling pace. He also found work in the new television industry, doing a couple of minor roles each year from 1949 thru 1954. New York City was a creative center for early live television, particularly
anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...
, which featured a new story and cast with each episode. Film actors disliked the pressure of performing live, so an out of work stage actor had an advantage. After years of near obscurity, Vivyan caught a break in 1952. He was cast opposite June Havoc in a summer touring company production of W. Somerset Maugham's ''
Rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
''. This two-month tour provided Vivyan with the time to hone his portrayal of the unfortunate Rev. Davidson, drawing good reviews in several cities. He followed this success with a late summer engagement in a
Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...
play, '' On Approval'', with the popular Arthur Treacher casting reflected glory on his younger co-star. Following those off-season successes, Vivyan landed a role in a high season production of a recent Broadway musical.
Joan Blondell Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on a film career, estab ...
was the star of a multi-city tour for '' A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'', with Vivyan playing her romantic interest. The tour opened in
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, went to
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and Washington, D. C., before finishing in Chicago. At the latter, the local paper noted he attended services and sang with the choir at the same Serbian Orthodox Church to which he belonged growing up. The following years were less successful. Vivyan had only a few weeks acting during August 1953 with the musical '' Lady in the Dark'', performed ''al fresco'' at
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, which starred Billie Worth and included Lee Bergere and a young
Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...
among the cast. This was followed by an even quicker stint in a new play about the United Nations, called ''The Paradise Question''. Starring
Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry Leon Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rem ...
, the show lasted only two weeks in
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and
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
.


West Coast television

From 1954-56, Vivyan did a few television shows on the West Coast, even as his New York television work seemed to slow down. He also had an uncredited role in his first film, a Hitchcock
docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...
called '' The Wrong Man''. He still traveled between the coasts for stage work, but that ceased with 1957, when he did episodes of eight television shows in Hollywood, followed by eight more in 1958. From then on, he resided permanently in Southern California. Where his stage roles had largely seen him play lovers, his television roles were at first as victims and then heavies. By 1959 his schedule was filled with TV roles, on a dozen different series, with many featuring multiple appearances. He also did a second film, '' Imitation of Life'', before being cast as the star in a new
Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio scripts ...
series. He thrived on the fast pace and handling different characters, but faced a physical challenge with the many
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
shows he was doing. He had no prior experience at riding a horse, and the necessity for a rider's left leg being the focal point for mounting and dismounting limited his ability to do so. More than one producer solved the problem by putting his character into a horse-drawn buggy instead.


Mr. Lucky

Producer Blake Edwards had a hit with his unconventional TV detective show ''
Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American detective fiction, private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens (actor), Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, lounge singer Edie Hart. The series was broadcast by NBC from Sept ...
'' in 1958–59, and decided to create another show around an equally unlikely protagonist. For the 1959-60 television season he sold CBS and two sponsors on ''Mr. Lucky'', a professional gambler who helped out others. As with ''Peter Gunn'' actor Craig Stevens, Vivyan was cast by Edwards for the way his appearance and style suggested film star
Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...
. Edwards even took both lead actors to his own tailor, to ensure their clothes projected a debonair style. Vivyan's own comment to an interviewer was "Nobody said I looked like Grant before this series". The show was an immediate success, helped considerably by the
Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...
theme music and the presence of actor Ross Martin as "Andamo", Mr. Lucky's sidekick. Mr. Lucky had his gambling operation on a yacht called ''Fortuna II'', anchored just beyond the then 3 mile legal limit for a major California port. Tom Brown played "Lt. Rovacs", a police officer who was grudgingly helpful to Mr. Lucky and Andamo. Pippa Scott played a recurring character who served as Mr Lucky's occasional love interest. Off-camera, she reportedly called John Vivyan "Vookie", as a teasing reference to his real last name and the then popular character of "Kookie" on '' 77 Sunset Strip''. The real name of the character Mr. Lucky was never heard during the series, though a CBS network press release announcing a mid-season format change identified it as "Lucky Santell". The show used a former Las Vegas casino dealer named Joe Scott as the technical advisor for gambling. He also played a dealer on the ''Fortuna II'' then its maitre d' after the casino yacht was converted to a restaurant. Despite critical acclaim and high ratings, ''Mr. Lucky'' was cancelled by CBS. Newspaper columnists offered several possible reasons, and for a while there was an effort by the producers to sell the show to other networks, but to no avail. Thus, Vivyan's fall from fame was almost as fast as his rise.


Later career and life

Vivyan once complained to a columnist that being on CBS limited the guest spots he could accept for that network's own shows. Having gone through lean periods, he was inclined to pursue performing opportunities whenever they arose. Following the cancellation of ''Mr. Lucky'', he resumed doing stage work in between television shows. He also did another film, '' Rider on a Dead Horse'' (1962), and voice-over work for an animated short in 1963. He had a brief recurring role as the gangster Lepke Buchalter on ''
The Lawless Years ''The Lawless Years'' is an American crime drama series that aired on NBC from April 16, 1959, to September 22, 1961. The series is the first of its kind, set during the Roaring 20s, preceding '' The Untouchables'' by half a season. Premise T ...
'', but most of his other television work was for single appearances. These tapered off quickly to two or three shows a year, then became more infrequent after Vivyan turned fifty in 1965. His stage work also ceased about the same time. He did no performing work for seven years after open heart surgery, at age sixty, in 1975. He resumed doing television in 1982, appearing on commercials and an episode each of two popular shows, ''
WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional AM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson. It was based upon his experiences obs ...
'' and ''
Simon & Simon ''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who ope ...
''. The latter show was broadcast just two weeks before he died of heart failure at Santa Monica Hospital on December 20, 1983.


Personal life

Vivyan told a newspaper columnist that he had tried marriage once, but it did not work out. There is no readily-available public record of his marriage, and he continued to be regarded as an eligible bachelor while active in show business. During 1958, he dated Ellen Powell, the daughter of
Joan Blondell Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on a film career, estab ...
and Dick Powell. Later, he was said to occasionally date actress Nita Talbot, among others. According to newspapers, he owned a cabin cruiser that he used for deep sea fishing. He lived in a modest apartment on Sweetzer Avenue in West Hollywood during most of his peak popularity. His main hobby was woodworking and hand restoring old furniture that he would buy from second-hand shops. He told an interviewer that he had not gambled since his Army days as "I get no kicks out of it".


Stage performances


Filmography


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vivyan, John American male stage actors American male television actors 1915 births 1983 deaths Male actors from Pittsburgh 20th-century American male actors United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army non-commissioned officers