John Samuel Walker
Founder of John Walker Antiques
August 6, 1936 – May 25, 2010
John Samuel ¨Jack¨ Walker of New York City, son of the late John S. and Wanda Walker of Paterson, NJ, and owner of John Walker Antiques formerly of the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center and the Place des Antiquaires, passed away quietly on May 25, 2010 after a long illness. Visitation hours and funeral services were held at John Krtil Funeral Home in Manhattan, and internment was in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa, NJ.
To the public Jack Walker was certainly best known for his many years of work in the field of antiques, and for the upscale English gentlemen´s club look of his shop. However, privately Jack was also known for his long involvement in the world of Hollywood celebrities, and stars of both stage and screen. Early in life, long before entering the world of antiques, Jack´s extraordinary sense of humor, as well as his culinary skills, led him down a path toward serving as chef, major domo, and friend to some of the world´s most famous people.
In the 1950´s Jack went to Florida, and began working there as a hotel bell boy. The people he would meet during those years would change the course of his life forever. Among his first well-known acquaintances were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Martha Raye, Nancy Carroll, with whom he traveled to Mexico, and Susan Hayward, whose home he returned to Florida to run.
When he came back to live in Manhattan, Jack went as often as possible to the ¨Little Bar¨ at Sardi´s Restaurant where he got to know many Broadway stars. His close friendship with Vivien Leigh, which began with a chance encounter while she was starring in the 1963 play ¨Tovarich¨, lasted until her death in 1967. And his complicated relationship with the Gabor Sisters, had far more to it than Jack was completely willing to divulge. It was, however, his many years in a townhouse on East 49th Street with which the majority of Jack´s friends would become most familiar – first working for head Warner Brothers´ public relations man, Robert Taplinger, and then most famously for Cary Grant.
When Jack first went to work on East 49th Street in New York City, the home he took charge of belonged to Sol Kittay of BVD fame, but was leased from him by Robert Taplinger. The house is located across the street from the houses of Turtle Bay, and counted Katharine Hepburn, Hildegarde, Ruth Gordon, and many others as its well-known residents. Of Taplinger´s famous house guests, Bette Davis was one of the most frequent visitors. Jack liked Bette Davis a lot, and his colorful recollections of her time spent with Taplinger were worthy of her character, Margo Channing, in ¨All About Eve¨. Then Cary Grant came to stay, and when Sol Kittay decided to open up his restaurant, ¨La Seine¨, he sold the townhouse to Grant in order to raise money for the project. Grant, who had grown to like Jack and the way he handled things for Taplinger, kept Jack on to run the house for him. Jack also frequently served as Grant´s bodyguard, and went with him on nights such as the one when Grant took Mae West to ¨La Seine¨ for dinner following the opening of her 1970 movie, ¨Myra Breckinridge¨.
Jack was already well-acquainted with a multitude of celebrities when Audrey Hepburn, Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis, Ingrid Bergman, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Elizabeth Taylor, and many others began attending the dinners that he would prepare and supervise for Grant. Jack´s wonderful, and often hilarious, stories of his years on East 49th St even included his surprising Grant by showing Greta Garbo through Grant´s house one day while Grant was not at home.
Falling in love with Cary Grant was easy for anyone who heard Jack speak about him. He said that Grant always went around the house singing, and he portrayed him as a man with a wonderful and mischievous sense of humor, who loved his daughter deeply. Jack also thought the world of Dyan Cannon and daughter, Jennifer Grant. It was Jack who went out and shopped, as Cary Grant set aside ¨future¨ special occasion gifts for Jennifer, in case Grant did not live long enough to see his daughter grow up. Stories of Jennifer´s birthday party, and a Christmas celebration for her that almost did not take place, nearly breaking Grant´s heart, were special to all who heard Jack tell them. In 1968, after Grant and Dyan Cannon divorced, and Grant began his recovery from a very serious car crash, in which he had badly injured his back, Grant was spending more time in California to be near his child. Eventually he asked Jack to remain on at the New York townhouse while Grant would live mainly on the west coast, but Jack had already decided to make the move to becoming an antique dealer. The owner of an antiques center had told Jack to ¨sign the papers¨, and he handed him a pen, saying that if Jack did not do well, that he would not hold him to the contract. However, he knew that Jack would be fine - and he was right. From that point on, Jack never looked back and, he remained an antique dealer for the rest of his life. Jack´s last show was the 2009 November Pier Show, where he was present for all three days.
Without Jack as ¨major domo¨, Grant sold the East 49th St house, but over the years ¨Grant and Walker¨, as they often referred to one another, continued to speak by phone.
Joan Crawford (of whom Jack was very fond); Ingrid Bergman (whom Jack described as a living doll – the most beautiful woman he ever saw, whose luminescent beauty did not completely translate to the screen); Susan Hayward (whose manner of walking, Jack said, was the loveliest he had ever seen); Katharine Hepburn (who did not get along well with Cary Grant on a personal level, and never came to Grant´s East 49th St. home, but whose home Jack visited often and whom Jack thought a great deal); and columnist Sheila Graham (whom Jack absolutely did not like, because she asked him a question, promising that his answer would remain off the record, and then printed what he had said) – all of these famous people, and many more, were part of Jack´s everyday life for years. He also came out of retirement as a chef to cook for Sydney Pollack during the New York filming of ´Tootsie´, and prepared macro biotic meals for Richard Harris while he was onstage in Washington, DC. (Harris thanked Jack in writing for having saved his life.)
Jack will be missed by many close friends, as well as countless customers and long-time acquaintances, but he will never be forgotten by those who truly knew and loved him best. John Walker Antiques will continue to be run by Jack´s chosen partner, and dearest friend of all.
Rest in peace, our dearly departed loving soul who will always live within our hearts... We will miss you every day, until we see you once again.
Founder of John Walker Antiques
August 6, 1936 – May 25, 2010
John Samuel ¨Jack¨ Walker of New York City, son of the late John S. and Wanda Walker of Paterson, NJ, and owner of John Walker Antiques formerly of the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center and the Place des Antiquaires, passed away quietly on May 25, 2010 after a long illness. Visitation hours and funeral services were held at John Krtil Funeral Home in Manhattan, and internment was in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa, NJ.
To the public Jack Walker was certainly best known for his many years of work in the field of antiques, and for the upscale English gentlemen´s club look of his shop. However, privately Jack was also known for his long involvement in the world of Hollywood celebrities, and stars of both stage and screen. Early in life, long before entering the world of antiques, Jack´s extraordinary sense of humor, as well as his culinary skills, led him down a path toward serving as chef, major domo, and friend to some of the world´s most famous people.
In the 1950´s Jack went to Florida, and began working there as a hotel bell boy. The people he would meet during those years would change the course of his life forever. Among his first well-known acquaintances were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Martha Raye, Nancy Carroll, with whom he traveled to Mexico, and Susan Hayward, whose home he returned to Florida to run.
When he came back to live in Manhattan, Jack went as often as possible to the ¨Little Bar¨ at Sardi´s Restaurant where he got to know many Broadway stars. His close friendship with Vivien Leigh, which began with a chance encounter while she was starring in the 1963 play ¨Tovarich¨, lasted until her death in 1967. And his complicated relationship with the Gabor Sisters, had far more to it than Jack was completely willing to divulge. It was, however, his many years in a townhouse on East 49th Street with which the majority of Jack´s friends would become most familiar – first working for head Warner Brothers´ public relations man, Robert Taplinger, and then most famously for Cary Grant.
When Jack first went to work on East 49th Street in New York City, the home he took charge of belonged to Sol Kittay of BVD fame, but was leased from him by Robert Taplinger. The house is located across the street from the houses of Turtle Bay, and counted Katharine Hepburn, Hildegarde, Ruth Gordon, and many others as its well-known residents. Of Taplinger´s famous house guests, Bette Davis was one of the most frequent visitors. Jack liked Bette Davis a lot, and his colorful recollections of her time spent with Taplinger were worthy of her character, Margo Channing, in ¨All About Eve¨. Then Cary Grant came to stay, and when Sol Kittay decided to open up his restaurant, ¨La Seine¨, he sold the townhouse to Grant in order to raise money for the project. Grant, who had grown to like Jack and the way he handled things for Taplinger, kept Jack on to run the house for him. Jack also frequently served as Grant´s bodyguard, and went with him on nights such as the one when Grant took Mae West to ¨La Seine¨ for dinner following the opening of her 1970 movie, ¨Myra Breckinridge¨.
Jack was already well-acquainted with a multitude of celebrities when Audrey Hepburn, Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis, Ingrid Bergman, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Elizabeth Taylor, and many others began attending the dinners that he would prepare and supervise for Grant. Jack´s wonderful, and often hilarious, stories of his years on East 49th St even included his surprising Grant by showing Greta Garbo through Grant´s house one day while Grant was not at home.
Falling in love with Cary Grant was easy for anyone who heard Jack speak about him. He said that Grant always went around the house singing, and he portrayed him as a man with a wonderful and mischievous sense of humor, who loved his daughter deeply. Jack also thought the world of Dyan Cannon and daughter, Jennifer Grant. It was Jack who went out and shopped, as Cary Grant set aside ¨future¨ special occasion gifts for Jennifer, in case Grant did not live long enough to see his daughter grow up. Stories of Jennifer´s birthday party, and a Christmas celebration for her that almost did not take place, nearly breaking Grant´s heart, were special to all who heard Jack tell them. In 1968, after Grant and Dyan Cannon divorced, and Grant began his recovery from a very serious car crash, in which he had badly injured his back, Grant was spending more time in California to be near his child. Eventually he asked Jack to remain on at the New York townhouse while Grant would live mainly on the west coast, but Jack had already decided to make the move to becoming an antique dealer. The owner of an antiques center had told Jack to ¨sign the papers¨, and he handed him a pen, saying that if Jack did not do well, that he would not hold him to the contract. However, he knew that Jack would be fine - and he was right. From that point on, Jack never looked back and, he remained an antique dealer for the rest of his life. Jack´s last show was the 2009 November Pier Show, where he was present for all three days.
Without Jack as ¨major domo¨, Grant sold the East 49th St house, but over the years ¨Grant and Walker¨, as they often referred to one another, continued to speak by phone.
Joan Crawford (of whom Jack was very fond); Ingrid Bergman (whom Jack described as a living doll – the most beautiful woman he ever saw, whose luminescent beauty did not completely translate to the screen); Susan Hayward (whose manner of walking, Jack said, was the loveliest he had ever seen); Katharine Hepburn (who did not get along well with Cary Grant on a personal level, and never came to Grant´s East 49th St. home, but whose home Jack visited often and whom Jack thought a great deal); and columnist Sheila Graham (whom Jack absolutely did not like, because she asked him a question, promising that his answer would remain off the record, and then printed what he had said) – all of these famous people, and many more, were part of Jack´s everyday life for years. He also came out of retirement as a chef to cook for Sydney Pollack during the New York filming of ´Tootsie´, and prepared macro biotic meals for Richard Harris while he was onstage in Washington, DC. (Harris thanked Jack in writing for having saved his life.)
Jack will be missed by many close friends, as well as countless customers and long-time acquaintances, but he will never be forgotten by those who truly knew and loved him best. John Walker Antiques will continue to be run by Jack´s chosen partner, and dearest friend of all.
Rest in peace, our dearly departed loving soul who will always live within our hearts... We will miss you every day, until we see you once again.
John Samuel Walker
Founder of John Walker Antiques
August 6, 1936 – May 25, 2010
John Samuel ¨Jack¨ Walker of New York City, son of the late John S. and Wanda Walker of Paterson, NJ, and owner of John Walker Antiques formerly of the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center and the Place des Antiquaires, passed away quietly on May 25, 2010 after a long illness. Visitation hours and funeral services were held at John Krtil Funeral Home in Manhattan, and internment was in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa, NJ.
To the public Jack Walker was certainly best known for his many years of work in the field of antiques, and for the upscale English gentlemen´s club look of his shop. However, privately Jack was also known for his long involvement in the world of Hollywood celebrities, and stars of both stage and screen. Early in life, long before entering the world of antiques, Jack´s extraordinary sense of humor, as well as his culinary skills, led him down a path toward serving as chef, major domo, and friend to some of the world´s most famous people.
In the 1950´s Jack went to Florida, and began working there as a hotel bell boy. The people he would meet during those years would change the course of his life forever. Among his first well-known acquaintances were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Martha Raye, Nancy Carroll, with whom he traveled to Mexico, and Susan Hayward, whose home he returned to Florida to run.
When he came back to live in Manhattan, Jack went as often as possible to the ¨Little Bar¨ at Sardi´s Restaurant where he got to know many Broadway stars. His close friendship with Vivien Leigh, which began with a chance encounter while she was starring in the 1963 play ¨Tovarich¨, lasted until her death in 1967. And his complicated relationship with the Gabor Sisters, had far more to it than Jack was completely willing to divulge. It was, however, his many years in a townhouse on East 49th Street with which the majority of Jack´s friends would become most familiar – first working for head Warner Brothers´ public relations man, Robert Taplinger, and then most famously for Cary Grant.
When Jack first went to work on East 49th Street in New York City, the home he took charge of belonged to Sol Kittay of BVD fame, but was leased from him by Robert Taplinger. The house is located across the street from the houses of Turtle Bay, and counted Katharine Hepburn, Hildegarde, Ruth Gordon, and many others as its well-known residents. Of Taplinger´s famous house guests, Bette Davis was one of the most frequent visitors. Jack liked Bette Davis a lot, and his colorful recollections of her time spent with Taplinger were worthy of her character, Margo Channing, in ¨All About Eve¨. Then Cary Grant came to stay, and when Sol Kittay decided to open up his restaurant, ¨La Seine¨, he sold the townhouse to Grant in order to raise money for the project. Grant, who had grown to like Jack and the way he handled things for Taplinger, kept Jack on to run the house for him. Jack also frequently served as Grant´s bodyguard, and went with him on nights such as the one when Grant took Mae West to ¨La Seine¨ for dinner following the opening of her 1970 movie, ¨Myra Breckinridge¨.
Jack was already well-acquainted with a multitude of celebrities when Audrey Hepburn, Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis, Ingrid Bergman, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Elizabeth Taylor, and many others began attending the dinners that he would prepare and supervise for Grant. Jack´s wonderful, and often hilarious, stories of his years on East 49th St even included his surprising Grant by showing Greta Garbo through Grant´s house one day while Grant was not at home.
Falling in love with Cary Grant was easy for anyone who heard Jack speak about him. He said that Grant always went around the house singing, and he portrayed him as a man with a wonderful and mischievous sense of humor, who loved his daughter deeply. Jack also thought the world of Dyan Cannon and daughter, Jennifer Grant. It was Jack who went out and shopped, as Cary Grant set aside ¨future¨ special occasion gifts for Jennifer, in case Grant did not live long enough to see his daughter grow up. Stories of Jennifer´s birthday party, and a Christmas celebration for her that almost did not take place, nearly breaking Grant´s heart, were special to all who heard Jack tell them. In 1968, after Grant and Dyan Cannon divorced, and Grant began his recovery from a very serious car crash, in which he had badly injured his back, Grant was spending more time in California to be near his child. Eventually he asked Jack to remain on at the New York townhouse while Grant would live mainly on the west coast, but Jack had already decided to make the move to becoming an antique dealer. The owner of an antiques center had told Jack to ¨sign the papers¨, and he handed him a pen, saying that if Jack did not do well, that he would not hold him to the contract. However, he knew that Jack would be fine - and he was right. From that point on, Jack never looked back and, he remained an antique dealer for the rest of his life. Jack´s last show was the 2009 November Pier Show, where he was present for all three days.
Without Jack as ¨major domo¨, Grant sold the East 49th St house, but over the years ¨Grant and Walker¨, as they often referred to one another, continued to speak by phone.
Joan Crawford (of whom Jack was very fond); Ingrid Bergman (whom Jack described as a living doll – the most beautiful woman he ever saw, whose luminescent beauty did not completely translate to the screen); Susan Hayward (whose manner of walking, Jack said, was the loveliest he had ever seen); Katharine Hepburn (who did not get along well with Cary Grant on a personal level, and never came to Grant´s East 49th St. home, but whose home Jack visited often and whom Jack thought a great deal); and columnist Sheila Graham (whom Jack absolutely did not like, because she asked him a question, promising that his answer would remain off the record, and then printed what he had said) – all of these famous people, and many more, were part of Jack´s everyday life for years. He also came out of retirement as a chef to cook for Sydney Pollack during the New York filming of ´Tootsie´, and prepared macro biotic meals for Richard Harris while he was onstage in Washington, DC. (Harris thanked Jack in writing for having saved his life.)
Jack will be missed by many close friends, as well as countless customers and long-time acquaintances, but he will never be forgotten by those who truly knew and loved him best. John Walker Antiques will continue to be run by Jack´s chosen partner, and dearest friend of all.
Rest in peace, our dearly departed loving soul who will always live within our hearts... We will miss you every day, until we see you once again.
Founder of John Walker Antiques
August 6, 1936 – May 25, 2010
John Samuel ¨Jack¨ Walker of New York City, son of the late John S. and Wanda Walker of Paterson, NJ, and owner of John Walker Antiques formerly of the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center and the Place des Antiquaires, passed away quietly on May 25, 2010 after a long illness. Visitation hours and funeral services were held at John Krtil Funeral Home in Manhattan, and internment was in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa, NJ.
To the public Jack Walker was certainly best known for his many years of work in the field of antiques, and for the upscale English gentlemen´s club look of his shop. However, privately Jack was also known for his long involvement in the world of Hollywood celebrities, and stars of both stage and screen. Early in life, long before entering the world of antiques, Jack´s extraordinary sense of humor, as well as his culinary skills, led him down a path toward serving as chef, major domo, and friend to some of the world´s most famous people.
In the 1950´s Jack went to Florida, and began working there as a hotel bell boy. The people he would meet during those years would change the course of his life forever. Among his first well-known acquaintances were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Martha Raye, Nancy Carroll, with whom he traveled to Mexico, and Susan Hayward, whose home he returned to Florida to run.
When he came back to live in Manhattan, Jack went as often as possible to the ¨Little Bar¨ at Sardi´s Restaurant where he got to know many Broadway stars. His close friendship with Vivien Leigh, which began with a chance encounter while she was starring in the 1963 play ¨Tovarich¨, lasted until her death in 1967. And his complicated relationship with the Gabor Sisters, had far more to it than Jack was completely willing to divulge. It was, however, his many years in a townhouse on East 49th Street with which the majority of Jack´s friends would become most familiar – first working for head Warner Brothers´ public relations man, Robert Taplinger, and then most famously for Cary Grant.
When Jack first went to work on East 49th Street in New York City, the home he took charge of belonged to Sol Kittay of BVD fame, but was leased from him by Robert Taplinger. The house is located across the street from the houses of Turtle Bay, and counted Katharine Hepburn, Hildegarde, Ruth Gordon, and many others as its well-known residents. Of Taplinger´s famous house guests, Bette Davis was one of the most frequent visitors. Jack liked Bette Davis a lot, and his colorful recollections of her time spent with Taplinger were worthy of her character, Margo Channing, in ¨All About Eve¨. Then Cary Grant came to stay, and when Sol Kittay decided to open up his restaurant, ¨La Seine¨, he sold the townhouse to Grant in order to raise money for the project. Grant, who had grown to like Jack and the way he handled things for Taplinger, kept Jack on to run the house for him. Jack also frequently served as Grant´s bodyguard, and went with him on nights such as the one when Grant took Mae West to ¨La Seine¨ for dinner following the opening of her 1970 movie, ¨Myra Breckinridge¨.
Jack was already well-acquainted with a multitude of celebrities when Audrey Hepburn, Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis, Ingrid Bergman, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Elizabeth Taylor, and many others began attending the dinners that he would prepare and supervise for Grant. Jack´s wonderful, and often hilarious, stories of his years on East 49th St even included his surprising Grant by showing Greta Garbo through Grant´s house one day while Grant was not at home.
Falling in love with Cary Grant was easy for anyone who heard Jack speak about him. He said that Grant always went around the house singing, and he portrayed him as a man with a wonderful and mischievous sense of humor, who loved his daughter deeply. Jack also thought the world of Dyan Cannon and daughter, Jennifer Grant. It was Jack who went out and shopped, as Cary Grant set aside ¨future¨ special occasion gifts for Jennifer, in case Grant did not live long enough to see his daughter grow up. Stories of Jennifer´s birthday party, and a Christmas celebration for her that almost did not take place, nearly breaking Grant´s heart, were special to all who heard Jack tell them. In 1968, after Grant and Dyan Cannon divorced, and Grant began his recovery from a very serious car crash, in which he had badly injured his back, Grant was spending more time in California to be near his child. Eventually he asked Jack to remain on at the New York townhouse while Grant would live mainly on the west coast, but Jack had already decided to make the move to becoming an antique dealer. The owner of an antiques center had told Jack to ¨sign the papers¨, and he handed him a pen, saying that if Jack did not do well, that he would not hold him to the contract. However, he knew that Jack would be fine - and he was right. From that point on, Jack never looked back and, he remained an antique dealer for the rest of his life. Jack´s last show was the 2009 November Pier Show, where he was present for all three days.
Without Jack as ¨major domo¨, Grant sold the East 49th St house, but over the years ¨Grant and Walker¨, as they often referred to one another, continued to speak by phone.
Joan Crawford (of whom Jack was very fond); Ingrid Bergman (whom Jack described as a living doll – the most beautiful woman he ever saw, whose luminescent beauty did not completely translate to the screen); Susan Hayward (whose manner of walking, Jack said, was the loveliest he had ever seen); Katharine Hepburn (who did not get along well with Cary Grant on a personal level, and never came to Grant´s East 49th St. home, but whose home Jack visited often and whom Jack thought a great deal); and columnist Sheila Graham (whom Jack absolutely did not like, because she asked him a question, promising that his answer would remain off the record, and then printed what he had said) – all of these famous people, and many more, were part of Jack´s everyday life for years. He also came out of retirement as a chef to cook for Sydney Pollack during the New York filming of ´Tootsie´, and prepared macro biotic meals for Richard Harris while he was onstage in Washington, DC. (Harris thanked Jack in writing for having saved his life.)
Jack will be missed by many close friends, as well as countless customers and long-time acquaintances, but he will never be forgotten by those who truly knew and loved him best. John Walker Antiques will continue to be run by Jack´s chosen partner, and dearest friend of all.
Rest in peace, our dearly departed loving soul who will always live within our hearts... We will miss you every day, until we see you once again.
