Happy 107th Birthday to the Man in the Mask

 Happy Birthday to the late, great, Lone Ranger himself, Clayton Moore! 

Moore portrayed the classic American hero from 1949 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957 but unlike some others, Moore embrased the character and continued to dawn the mask for the rest of his life whenever called upon, even for an unforgettable episode of Happy Days as he would surprise The Fonz on his birthday (which gave re-runs of the classic western a new surge with young people in the 70s).

He was born September 14th 1914, Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago Illinois, the youngest of three sons.  His father, Charles Sprague Moore was a well-to-do real estate broker and his mother, Theresa Violet was a housewife.

"Jack", a natural athlete, became a circus acrobat by age 8 and appeared at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago with a trapeze act (no wonder he was so fearless of all those western film stunts).

Moving out to Hollywood in the 30's, Moore took on parts as a stuntman and bit-player between modeling jobs (yes, I said modeling), until he was persuaded to change his stage name to, Clayton by producer Edward Small.  After which Moore got parts in four Republic Pictures cliff-hangers and two films for Columbia Pictures.

Moore served his country during World War II in the United States Army as part of their first Motion Picture Unit, making training films.

Moore was working on the serial, Ghost of Zorro, when he caught the eye of Lone Ranger radio producer and co-creator, George W Trendle.  

The show and character was a world wide sensation, he became the single most recognizable character in the world for a few years

The only interruption in Moore's appearances as the Lone Ranger came from 1979 to 1984 when the film producer of, The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981, which I talked about before).  Jack Wrather owned the rights to the character and filed a law suit for Moore to stop appearing as the character, Moore continued by altering his costume and using a pair of wrap-around sunglasses instead of a mask.  The public was rabidly behind Moore in the suit (who counter-sued) and is blamed for part of that films lack of ticket sales.  (They'd have been FAR better off  by working with the legendary Moore and allowing him to help promote their film, just my take).

Even with this interruption in his portrayal, Moore will forever be synonymous with The Lone Ranger.

HIGH-HO SILVER, AWAY!!!  We thank you for all the wonderful memories, Mr Moore, and miss you!