1. Walter John Buchanan was a Scottish theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, producer and director.
27 Facts About Jack Buchanan
1. 2.
Jack Buchanan was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George Grossmith Jr.
3.
Jack Buchanan produced and acted in his own plays both in London and New York City.
4.
Jack Buchanan's health was not robust, and, to his regret, was declared unfit when he attempted to enlist for military service in the First World War.
5.
Jack Buchanan appeared with some success in West End shows during the war, attracting favourable notices as a "knut" in the mould of George Grossmith Jr, and achieved front rank stardom in Andre Charlot's 1921 revue A to Z, appearing with Gertrude Lawrence.
6.
Jack Buchanan apologizes to the audience for his unscheduled appearance and explains that he is an emergency replacement for a quartet of singers.
7.
The group presents a repetitive hunting song, but the singers accompanying him perform so briskly that Jack Buchanan gets flustered and tries desperately to keep up.
8.
Jack Buchanan made his film debut in the silent cinema, in 1917 and appeared in about three dozen films in his career.
9.
In 1938, Jack Buchanan achieved the unusual feat of starring in the London stage musical This'll Make You Whistle while concurrently filming a film version.
10.
Jack Buchanan produced several films including Happidrome and The Sky's the Limit, which he directed.
11.
Jack Buchanan continued to work on Broadway and the West End and took roles in several Hollywood musicals, including The Band Wagon, his best-known film, in which he plays camp theatre director Jeffrey Cordova opposite Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.
12.
Jack Buchanan suffered from spinal arthritis, though this did not stop him from performing several dance numbers with Astaire in The Band Wagon.
13.
Jack Buchanan's productions included The Women, The Body was Well Nourished, Waltz Without End, It's Time to Dance, A Murder for a Valentine, Treble Trouble and The Lady Asks for Help.
14.
Jack Buchanan made one French film, The Diary of Major Thompson.
15.
Jack Buchanan was a frequent broadcaster on British radio, especially during the Second World War.
16.
Programmes included The Jack Buchanan Show and, in 1955, the hugely popular eight-part series Man About Town.
17.
On 12 June 1928, Jack Buchanan participated in the first-ever transatlantic television broadcast.
18.
American television shows on which Jack Buchanan appeared during the era of stores selling television sets included Max Liebman's Spotlight in 1954 and The Ed Sullivan Show.
19.
Jack Buchanan was heavily involved in the more commercial side of British show business.
20.
Jack Buchanan was responsible, with partners, for the building and ownership of the Leicester Square Theatre, London, and the Imperial in Brighton.
21.
Jack Buchanan controlled the Garrick Theatre in the West End of London and the King's Theatre in Hammersmith.
22.
Jack Buchanan Productions owned Riverside Studios in Hammersmith.
23.
Jack Buchanan had been at school with the pioneer of television John Logie Baird and with him co-owned Television Limited, which manufactured and rented televisions.
24.
Jack Buchanan's image was that of the raffish eternal bachelor, but he was, unknown to most, married to Russian opera singer Saffo Jack Buchanan, nee Drageva from 1915 to 1920, when the marriage was annulled.
25.
Jack Buchanan was noted for his portrayals of the quintessential English gentleman, despite being a Scot.
26.
Jack Buchanan was known for his financial generosity to less prosperous actors and chorus performers.
27.
Jack Buchanan died in London on October 20,1957 from spinal cancer at age 66.