John Vivyan
Encyclopedia
John Vivyan was an American
actor active primarily between 1957 and 1970. He was known for his starring role as the honest debonair gambler in the CBS
adventure series
Mr. Lucky.
in the episode "Nitro" of the syndicated
Highway Patrol
series. He guest starred in two other 1950s syndicated programs too, Harbor Command
and State Trooper
. In 1957, appeared as the character Hewitt in "The Laura Hunter Story" on CBS's The Millionaire. He starred too as Mack Barron in the episode "The Little Witness" on Loretta Young
's NBC
anthology series.
Thereafter, he appeared in three Warner Brothers series on ABC
, two westerns
, Colt .45
(as George F. Foley in "The Mirage") and Sugarfoot
(as Victor Valla in the episode "Deadlock"), and then on the detective
series 77 Sunset Strip
(as Mitch in "The Girl Who Couldn't Remember"). Vivyan appeared as LeBow in "Duel at the Oaks" in the CBS western Yancy Derringer
, starring Jock Mahoney
. He appeared twice as Mike deGraff in ABC's The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
starring Hugh O'Brian
, twice as Toby Clark on CBS's Rawhide
, and twice on NBC's Bat Masterson
starring Gene Barry
. He appeared four times as different characters on ABC's Maverick
from 1957-1959. He also appeared in the western Tombstone Territory
in the episode entitled "Desert Survival".
Vivyan appeared twice in the role of Jason Hemp, a dishonest Texas
rancher, on ABC's Disneyland in the western miniseries
Texas John Slaughter
.
Between 1959 and 1961, Vivyan appeared nine times as Lepke, nickname of mobster Louis Buchalter
, on NBC's crime drama The Lawless Years
, set during the Roaring 20s. Five of those appearances were on the multi-part episode "Louy K".
In 1962, Vivyan appeared twice on the syndicated western anthology Death Valley Days
. That same year he appeared as Shelly Hanson in NBC's modern-day western, Empire
, starring Richard Egan
, in the episode entitled "Down There, the World". He appeared on two CBS sitcoms too: Lucille Ball
's The Lucy Show
in the 1963 episode "Lucy Becomes a Reporter" and Petticoat Junction
as Lane Haggard in the 1964 episode "Visit from a Big Star".
Vivyan made relatively few appearances after 1970, when he guest starred once on Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
's ABC crime drama The F.B.I. His last two appearances were on CBS in 1982 as Mr. Mittenhoff in the episode "Jennifer's and Johnny's Charity" on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati
, and in 1983 as Farley in the episode "Betty Grable
Flies Again" on the adventure program Simon and Simon.
, at the age of 68. Vivyan is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
in Los Angeles.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor active primarily between 1957 and 1970. He was known for his starring role as the honest debonair gambler in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
adventure series
Adventure (genre)
The adventure genre, in the context of a narrative, is typically applied to works in which the protagonist or other major characters are consistently placed in dangerous situations...
Mr. Lucky.
Early life and career
Born John C. Vivian in Chicago, Illinois, Vivyan first appeared on the screen at the age of 39 in the 1949 episode "Two Sharp Knives" of the Studio One series at a time when relatively few residences had television access. In 1957, he appeared as the character Richard Goff with Broderick CrawfordBroderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...
in the episode "Nitro" of the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
Highway Patrol
Highway Patrol (TV series)
Highway Patrol is a syndicated action crime drama series produced 1955-1959.-Overview:Highway Patrol stars Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews, the gruff and dedicated head of a police force in an unidentified Western state...
series. He guest starred in two other 1950s syndicated programs too, Harbor Command
Harbor Command
Harbor Command is a syndicated adventure/drama television series starring Wendell Corey as Captain Ralph Baxter, a fictitious officer of the United States Coast Guard. The 39-episode Ziv program aired in black and white from October 11, 1957, to July 4, 1958. Casey Walters appeared in all episodes...
and State Trooper
State Trooper (TV series)
State Trooper is a half-hour television crime drama set in the 1950s American West, starring Rod Cameron as Rod Blake, an officer of the Nevada State Troopers. The series aired 104 episodes in syndication from September 25, 1956, to June 25, 1959...
. In 1957, appeared as the character Hewitt in "The Laura Hunter Story" on CBS's The Millionaire. He starred too as Mack Barron in the episode "The Little Witness" on Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
anthology series.
Thereafter, he appeared in three Warner Brothers series on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, two westerns
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, Colt .45
Colt .45 (TV series)
Colt .45 is an American Western television series shown on ABC between 1957 and 1960. The half-hour show derives from the 1950 Warner Brothers film of the same name starring Randolph Scott and formed part of the William T...
(as George F. Foley in "The Mirage") and Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot is the title of a TV western that aired from 1957 to 1961. The series featured Will Hutchins as fledgling frontier lawyer Tom Brewster and Jack Elam as sidekick Toothy Thompson...
(as Victor Valla in the episode "Deadlock"), and then on the detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
series 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
(as Mitch in "The Girl Who Couldn't Remember"). Vivyan appeared as LeBow in "Duel at the Oaks" in the CBS western Yancy Derringer
Yancy Derringer
Yancy Derringer is an American Western series that ran on CBS from 1958 to 1959, with Jock Mahoney in the title role. It was produced by Derringer Productions and filmed in Hollywood by Desilu Productions...
, starring Jock Mahoney
Jock Mahoney
Jock Mahoney was an American actor and stuntman of Irish, French, and Cherokee ancestry. Born Jacques O'Mahoney, he was credited variously as Jock Mahoney, Jack O'Mahoney or Jock O'Mahoney. He starred in two television series, both westerns...
. He appeared twice as Mike deGraff in ABC's The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a Western television series loosely based on the adventures of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black and white series ran on ABC-TV from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian as Earp. An off-camera barbershop quartet sang the theme song and hummed...
starring Hugh O'Brian
Hugh O'Brian
Hugh O'Brian is an American actor, known for his starring role in the ABC television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp .-Early years and career:...
, twice as Toby Clark on CBS's Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
, and twice on NBC's Bat Masterson
Bat Masterson (TV series)
Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black and white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961...
starring Gene Barry
Gene Barry
Gene Barry was an American stage, screen, and television actor. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films The Atomic City and The War of The Worlds and for his portrayal of the title character in the TV series Bat Masterson, among many roles.-Personal life:Barry was born...
. He appeared four times as different characters on ABC's Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
from 1957-1959. He also appeared in the western Tombstone Territory
Tombstone Territory
Tombstone Territory is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959...
in the episode entitled "Desert Survival".
Vivyan appeared twice in the role of Jason Hemp, a dishonest Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
rancher, on ABC's Disneyland in the western miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Texas John Slaughter
Texas John Slaughter (TV series)
Texas John Slaughter was a television series run from 1958 to 1961 as part of the Wonderful World of Disney, starring Tom Tryon in the title role. The character was based upon an actual historical figure, Texas Ranger John Slaughter. Tryon memorably wore an enormous white cowboy hat with the brim...
.
Between 1959 and 1961, Vivyan appeared nine times as Lepke, nickname of mobster Louis Buchalter
Louis Buchalter
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was a Jewish American mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc. during the 1930s. After Dutch Schultz' request of the Mafia Commission for permission to kill his enemy, U.S. Attorney Thomas Dewey, the Commission decided to kill Schultz in order to prevent the hit...
, on NBC's crime drama The Lawless Years
The Lawless Years
The Lawless Years is the first television crime drama set during the Roaring 20s, having predated ABC's far more successful The Untouchables with Robert Stack by six months. The 47-episode half-hour series aired nonconsecutively on NBC from April 16 to August 27, 1959, from October 1, 1959, to...
, set during the Roaring 20s. Five of those appearances were on the multi-part episode "Louy K".
In 1962, Vivyan appeared twice on the syndicated western anthology Death Valley Days
Death Valley Days
Death Valley Days is an American radio and television anthology series featuring true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945. It continued from 1952 to 1975 as a syndicated television series...
. That same year he appeared as Shelly Hanson in NBC's modern-day western, Empire
Empire (1962 TV series)
Empire, an hour-long Western television series set on a 1960s ranch in New Mexico, starred Richard Egan , Terry Moore , and Ryan O'Neal . It ran on NBC for a season between September 25, 1962, and May 14, 1963...
, starring Richard Egan
Richard Egan (actor)
Richard Egan was an American actor. In some films he is credited as Richard Eagan.-Career:Born in San Francisco, California, Egan served in the United States Army as a judo instructor during World War II...
, in the episode entitled "Down There, the World". He appeared on two CBS sitcoms too: Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
's The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...
in the 1963 episode "Lucy Becomes a Reporter" and Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...
as Lane Haggard in the 1964 episode "Visit from a Big Star".
Vivyan made relatively few appearances after 1970, when he guest starred once on Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. is an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I. He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the series Maverick and as the voice behind the character Alfred Pennyworth in Batman: The Animated Series...
's ABC crime drama The F.B.I. His last two appearances were on CBS in 1982 as Mr. Mittenhoff in the episode "Jennifer's and Johnny's Charity" on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta...
, and in 1983 as Farley in the episode "Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
Flies Again" on the adventure program Simon and Simon.
Death
Vivyan died on December 20, 1983 in Santa Monica, CaliforniaSanta Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, at the age of 68. Vivyan is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Los Angeles.