Another one of my mother’s friends from her acting days was John Vivyan, who seemed to be headed for major success when Blake Edwards picked him to star in his TV series Mr. Lucky, for the 1959-60 season.
I heard Vivyan’s name a lot while growing up, but I don’t recall him ever visiting the family, like Vince Beck did. It wasn’t until much later that I figured out who he was. MeTV is currently running Mr. Lucky late on Sunday nights. Ross Martin, later Robert Conrad’s sidekick on The Wild, Wild West, played Vivyan’s sidekick.
In the era of cigarette advertising on TV, you’d think that Lucky Strike would have sponsored the show, and indeed the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. was a sponsor, along with Lever Brothers. The ratings for Mr. Lucky were very good, but then Brown & Williamson, or possibly Lever Bros., decided the gambling premise wasn’t respectable, and when they demanded that it be changed. Blake Edwards handed the series over to journeyman director Jack Arnold, who is known for his 1950’s science fiction movies and for directing a lot of the “Gilligan’s Island” episodes. The advertiser meddling didn’t work out, CBS couldn’t find another primary sponsor, and Mr. Lucky was cancelled after only one season.
After Mr. Lucky, John Vivyan had mostly bit parts in TV shows. Today, if Mr. Lucky is remembered at all, it’s for its theme music by Henry Mancini.
[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Audio/2013/09/Mr+Lucky.mp3|titles=Mr. Lucky by Henry Mancini]