Career
He was known for his starring role as the debonair gambler in the Columbia Broadcasting System adventure series Mr. Lucky.
Born John R. Vukayan to Serbian immigrant parents in Chicago, Illinois, Vivyan served in the Guadalcanal campaign with the United States Army Company "East", the 132nd Infantry Regiment during World World War World War II He was wounded in the legal John Vukayan changed his surname to Vivyan, like other aspiring actors, after attending the American Academy of Dramatic Art under the GI Bill of Rights.
He first appeared on stage in the late 1940s before taking film and television roles.
Vivyan"s first screen role was in the 1949 episode "Two Sharp Knives" of the Studio One anthology series at a time when relatively few residences had television access. In 1957, he appeared as the character Richard Goff with Broderick Crawford in the episode "Nitro" of the syndicated series, Highway Patrol.
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 Columbia Broadcasting System"s The Millionaire.
He starred too as Mack Barron in the episode "The Little Witness" on Loretta Young"s National Broadcasting Company anthology series.
Thereafter, he appeared in three Warner Brothers series on American Broadcasting Company, 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 Columbia Broadcasting System western Yancy Derringer, starring Jock Mahoney. He appeared twice in American Broadcasting Company"s The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp starring Hugh O"Brian, twice on Columbia Broadcasting System"s Rawhide, and twice on National Broadcasting Company"s Bat Masterson starring Gene Barry.
He appeared four times from 1957 to 1959 as different characters on the American Broadcasting Company/World Bank western series, Maverick.
He also appeared in the syndicated western series, Tombstone Territory, in the episode entitled "Desert Survival". He appeared as the gangster Duke in the 1958 Adventures of Superman, "The Gentle Monster."
Vivyan appeared twice in the role of Jason Hemp, a dishonest Texas rancher, on American Broadcasting Company"s Disneyland in the western miniseries Texas John Slaughter, with Tom Tryon in the title role.
He also guest starred on Richard Carlson"s syndiczted western series, Mackenzie"s Raiders. From 1959-1960, Vivyan starred with Ross Martin in the television series “Mr.
Lucky” for one season of 34 episodes.
Between 1959 and 1961, Vivyan appeared nine times as Lepke, nickname of mobster Louis Buchalter, on National Broadcasting Company"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 Valley Days.
That same year he appeared as Shelly Hanson in National Broadcasting Company"s modern-day western, Empire, starring Richard Egan as the rancher Jim Redigo, in the episode entitled "Down There, the World".
He appeared on two Columbia Broadcasting System sitcoms: 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". In 1969, he was teamed up with Canadian-born Hollywood actress Yvonne De Carlo in Cactus Flower.
The play was a big success, drawing full houses everywhere it played. Vivyan made relatively few appearances after 1970, when he guest starred once on Efrem Zimbalist, Junior."s American Broadcasting Company crime drama The Federal Bureau of Investigation His last two appearances were on Columbia Broadcasting System 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 detective series Simon & Simon.
Vivyan died on December 20, 1983 in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 68. He is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Los Angeles