I’m given pause to remember a time on the old website – probably RJL, but I’m not sure – when it came to light that some of our visitors were quite young, in their teens. They said Jack was a father figure to them; in fact, one went on to say that she had not had a father’s influence before.

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It brought out one of my reasons for starting the site, that although Jack portrayed a character in McGarrett who stood up for what was right, he also did so in his personal life. When he was only eight years old, he fought two older boys, who were stoning a young bird. He lost the fight, and the bird died, but he fought to save it. When he was being asked to play characters of whom he did not approve; e.g., the murderer Coaley Tobin in Man of the West, he stopped accepting such roles, bypassing more than twenty offers. Even so, he remained quite active, portraying such reputable characters as CIA Agent Felix Leiter in Dr. No and saddle bronc rider Stoney Burke in the television series of the same name.

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Jack and his wife, Marie, gave generously to worthy causes throughout their lives, supporting such ventures as helping to provide disadvantaged children with a sports team, encouraging hearing-impaired children to discover things they could do, such as drawing; and visiting recovering Vietnam veterans at Tripler Army Medical Center. The list goes on and on, until at the end of his and Marie’s life, they willed their entire estate to a dozen organizations working to help those in need across the state of Hawai’i, their home for more than thirty years.

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We’ll never know whether McGarrett gave generously to help others, but we know for certain that the actor who portrayed him not only helped the recipients of his donations, but also others who simply knew him onscreen.

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“Well done, good and faithful servant . . .” (Matthew 25:23 KJV)

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