‘Hawaii Five-0’ rides again

But the stuntman doesn’t mind.

That’s the deal he signed. That’s the demeanor for which he is paid.

And that’s the case for Borderland native son John Nordlum — who served as silhouette, stand-in and stunt double for the late actor Jack Lord, as well as actor Tom Selleck.

Although Nordlum has been written about several times, he is reticent to discuss Lord, a close friend whom he says he loved. He was Lord’s right-hand man on the 1968-1980 “Hawaii Five-0” television series, doubling for the character “Detective Steve McGarrett.” His loyalty to Lord leaves him wavering between protecting Lord’s image and perpetuating the legend.

At The Journal Monday, Nordlum gave his first in-person interview.

But it’s a certain 1974 Mercury Marquis that takes the limelight. The iconic “Five-0” car belongs to Nordlum, a gift in 1980 from the actor whose face for 12 seasons, was, and still is associated with the long, black machine.

The 21-foot, barge-like relic, which Nordlum has continued to drive all these years, is back behind the camera in the CBS remake of “Hawaii Five-0.” A one-hour pilot has been filmed with the car in the opening and closing scenes, and the series has been picked up by the network for the fall season.

Lord ignited the stuntman’s career in 1971 when Nordlum was spotted diving on a Makai Pier filming site in Hawaii. That career lasted 30 years and led to Nordlum’s founding of the Hawaii Stunt Association. It also led to Nordlum’s ownership of the jet-black automobile in which he was most often the one behind the wheel — rumbling, tumbling, squealing and screeching.

“McGarrett’s” catchphrase, “Book 'em, Danno!” as head of Hawaii’s elite police unit, has become part of pop culture history. The term "Five-0,” which accordingly refers to the 50th state’s five islands, was adopted by American youth culture as a street slang term for the police.

Lord was a refined actor-producer and a perfectionist as well as an accomplished painter who sold some work to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But behind his acting success was a shrewd and practical businessman. It was Lord who insisted his character be given Ford Motor Company products to drive. He was also instrumental in the practical hiring of native Hawaiians in the series. Lord had a big slice of the “Five-0” pie.

Handed the keys from Lord himself when the series closed, Nordlum used the Marquis as his everyday car thereafter. It became a landmark on Nordlum’s street where he sometimes took smitten “Five-0” fans for rides. The car still features the propped microphone and cord where the square-jawed “McGarrett” wryly issued his edicts.

Nordlum maintained the 460-cubic-inch V8 engine himself, although the car’s interior is showing its tattered vintage. The TV series put 30,000 miles on its odometer which has since turned over twice. Requiring some coddling to hit the road, it still “goes like hell,” according to its owner.

On a handshake early this year, Nordlum made a deal to allow the network to use the “Five-0” car in the pilot. When members of the Teamsters Union loaded up the Mercury and drove away from his Hawaii residence, Nordlum cried and felt like they were taking his baby, he told a Honolulu newspaper.

It received a shiny new paint job and Nordlum was notified just recently that the writers would like to use the car intermittently in the show. He was offered the title of “5-0 consultant.”

Son of local folks

Nordlum was born in International Falls and is a 1954 graduate of Falls High School. His father Clarence Nordlum was a mill worker and his mother Margaret Nordlum was a grade-school teacher at Holler School. He has a sister in Anoka, Minn.

Nordlum revisits Rainy Lake for a few months every summer. On Wednesday, he was enjoying cookies with his Aunt Lillian Nordlum in the Falls.

At The Journal, Nordlum more than twice referred to himself as shy, but amid the car talk other engaging snippets of his life were revealed. Nordlum has lived in 10 different countries and traveled five continents. “But this town (the Falls) is the best,” he told The Journal. He served in the U.S. Army and was an educator abroad for 10 years, receiving his teaching degree from St. John’s University.

The rangy, senior stuntman has never broken a bone even though it is his frame one sees in nearly all the aerial, automobile and water stunts in both of television’s “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum P.I.” shows. He’s also serves Hawaii’s Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors and is a member of the Stunt Safety Committee. Film making in Hawaii is booming right now, Nordlum said.

When “Five-0” ended, Nordlum grew a mustache and went to work as Selleck’s stunt double in the “P.I.” series as well as his movies, including the “Three Men and a Baby” and “... Little Lady” films. “I’ve been dragged ‘down under’ by wild horses,” was Nordlum’s way of summing up his action in Selleck’s “Quigley Down Under,” set in Australia.

The remake

The new “Five-0” version revisits the elite Hawaii state police unit, this time led by “McGarrett’s” son who is a former Navy SEAL. Returning to Hawaii to head the force, the son finds his father’s car in storage, in need of some serious fixing.

The young detective is seen tackling the project in the close of the pilot. The hobby will likely continue so the character can communicate and feel his father’s presence when he has contact with the car.

That type of meditational connection is very close to what Nordlum says he feels inside the Marquis. “Jack Lord’s spirit is in this car,” he has said, noting that he never feels alone in the vehicle. Perhaps it was Lord’s savvy that ultimately put the Mercury’s fate in Nordlum’s hands.

The stuntman says that the decision for a remake and the recent revival of interest in the car has revealed, for him, some answers. “He is going to live again in this show through that car,” he said. “That’s why he gave me that car. Jack would be happy I’m doing this.”

By now, the memories of at least some of the readers of this article are rewinding the wave-cresting music which opened “Five-0,” reportedly the most recognizable television theme song ever.

The song, like the ebony sedan, both serve to memorialize Jack Lord — and that’s just fine with Nordlum.