- Father of Anne Archer, Gregg Bowman (from his first marriage), Jon Archer and Lisa Archer (from his second marriage).
- Met his first wife, Marjorie Lord, when both appeared in an L.A. stage production of "The Male Animal".
- Replaced Bret Morrison as the voice of "The Shadow" on the popular radio series in 1944. He left after a year when his Broadway career kicked up. He was, in turn, replaced briefly by Stephen Courtleigh before Morrison, who most consider the definitive voice of "The Shadow," returned in late 1945.
- Found much work on radio in the 1940s, with his most popular role being the title voice of "The Shadow," which he played for about a year.
- Lost the lead role in the film The Egg and I (1947) to Fred MacMurray.
- In 1994 The Shadow (1994), a role which he played on radio from 1944-45, was made into a film starring Alec Baldwin. Baldwin was the first actor to play "Jack Ryan" in The Hunt for Red October (1990). For the sequels Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), he was replaced by Harrison Ford, and the character's wife was played by John's daughter, Anne Archer.
- Interviewed by Tom Weaver in the book, "They Fought in the Creature Features" (McFarland & Co., 1994).
- Grandfather of Tommy Davis.
- Father-in-law of Terry Jastrow.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content