FOUND A GRAVE

John Lund’s father was a Norwegian immigrant and glassblower in Rochester, New York. Lund did not finish high school, and he tried several businesses before settling on advertising in the 1930s. His jobs included being “a soda-jerk, carpenter and timekeeper.”  While working for an advertising agency, he was asked by a friend to appear in an industrial show for the 1939 World’s Fair. As a result, he served as stage manager of Railroad on Parade at the fair and played several roles in the production. Before moving to New York City he had appeared in several amateur productions in Rochester. He began acting professionally by appearing on Broadway in William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. He wrote the book and lyrics for Broadway’s New Faces of 1943. It was his appearance in the play The Hasty Heart (1945) that got him recognized by Hollywood and led to a long-term film contract with Paramount Pictures.  Lund had the title role in the serial Chaplain Jim on the Blue Network in the early 1940s. Lund also played Johnny Dollar in the radio show Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, taking over from 1952- Aug 1954. Not a big fan favorite, still he does have his own style and adds to the character in his own right.  His first film was To Each His Own (1946) with Olivia de Havilland for Paramount, in which he played dual roles. A Foreign Affair (1948), in which Lund played romantic lead to both Marlene Dietrich and Jean Arthur, was highly acclaimed but failed to make him a major star. In 1949, in My Friend Irma, Lund is Al, boyfriend of Irma (Marie Wilson). My Friend Irma, was the film debut of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.  In 1951 he co-starred with Gene Tierney, Miriam Hopkins, and Thelma Ritter in Mitchell Leisen’s comedy The Mating Season. The same year he appeared with Joan Fontaine in the 1951 comedy Darling How Could You!.  In 1956 he co-starred with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in MGM’s High Society, the musical remake of MGM’s 1940 greatly successful The Philadelphia Story.  By the early 1960s, he appeared in minor films and secondary roles and then retired from the screen in 1963, becoming a successful Hollywood businessman. Lund retired to his house in Coldwater Canyon in the Hollywood Hills in 1963 and died of heart problems in 1992.