Clayton Moore

	Clayton Moore
	; Moore as the Lone Ranger
	Background information
Born as:	Jack Carlton Moore
AKA:	Jack Moore, Clay Moore
Born	Sep 14, 1914; Chicago, Illinois
Died	Dec 28, 1999 - at age 84 Heart attack; West Hills, Los Angeles, California; heart attack
Spouse(s):	Mary Francis; (1940 - 1942) div
Occupation:	Actor, model
Yrs active:	1934–1999
Web site:	http://www.esmeforever.com

Military Service World War II
Allegiance :	United States
Branch:	US Army Air Force
Unit:	First Motion Picture Unit

	Note: This is an abridged Wikipedia articleSee: Clayton Moore on Wikipedia

Clayton Moore, born Jack Carlton Moore on September 14, 1914, and passing away on December 28, 1999, was an American actor best known for portraying the fictional Western character the Lone Ranger. He played this role from 1949 to 1952 and again from 1953 to 1957 in the television series of the same name, as well as in two related films produced by the same team.

Early life

Jack Carlton Moore was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 14, 1914, as the youngest of three sons of Theresa Violet (née Fisher) and Charles Sprague Moore. According to the federal census of 1930, Moore's father was a native of New York who supported his family in Chicago by working as a real estate broker. The same census also indicates that a full-time maid, Amelia Hirsch, lived with the Moore family, highlighting the household's relative prosperity at that time.

Highly athletic as a child, Jack became a circus acrobat by the age of eight. Later, in 1934, he performed with a trapeze act at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. He graduated from Stephen K. Hayt Elementary School, Sullivan Junior High School, and Senn High School, all located on the far North Side of Chicago.

Career

Modelling and acting

As a young man, Moore worked successfully as a John Robert Powers model. He moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s, where he worked as a stuntman and bit player between modeling jobs. In his 1996 autobiography, I Was That Masked Man, Moore noted that Hollywood producer Edward Small persuaded him around 1940 to adopt the stage name "Clayton." He was subsequently cast as an occasional player in B Westerns, as well as playing the lead in four Republic Studio cliffhangers and in two films for Columbia Pictures.

Military service

During World War II, Moore enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces and served with the First Motion Picture Unit, creating training films like Target-Invisible, where he co-starred alongside fellow actor Arthur Kennedy.

The Lone Ranger

In 1949, Moore's performance in the Ghost of Zorro serial attracted the attention of George W. Trendle, co-creator and producer of the popular radio series The Lone Ranger. The ongoing plot revolved around the exploits of a mysterious former Texas Ranger, the lone survivor of a Ranger posse ambushed by a gang of outlaws. He roamed the West with his Indian companion, Tonto, fighting evil and aiding the oppressed. When Trendle adapted the radio program for television, Moore secured the title role. With the "March of the Swiss Soldiers" finale from Rossini's William Tell overture as their theme music, Moore and co-star Jay Silverheels made history as the first Western stars explicitly written for television. The Lone Ranger quickly became the highest-rated program on the emerging ABC network and its first genuine hit. It also earned an Emmy Award nomination in 1950.

Moore was replaced in the third season by John Hart, reportedly due to a contract dispute, but he returned for the final two seasons. Moore later stated that he received no explanation from the producers regarding his replacement or subsequent rehiring. The fourth season of The Lone Ranger was once again filmed in black and white; however, the fifth and final season of the series was the only one shot in color. In total, Moore starred in 169 of the 221 episodes produced.

Moore appeared in other television series during his Lone Ranger run, including a 1952 episode of Bill Williams' syndicated Western The Adventures of Kit Carson. He guest-starred in two episodes of Jock Mahoney's series The Range Rider in 1952 and 1953. Silverheels and he also starred in two feature-length Lone Ranger motion pictures. After completion of the second feature, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold, in 1958, Moore began 40 years of personal appearances (including for the short-lived Lone Ranger Restaurants in Southern California[11]), TV guest spots, and classic commercials as the legendary masked man. Silverheels joined him for occasional reunions during the early 1960s. Throughout his career, Moore expressed respect and love for Silverheels.

One of Moore's personal appearances in character became the basis of a story that actor Jay Thomas recounted every year around Christmas starting in 2000 on The Late Show with David Letterman. At that time, Thomas was a radio disc jockey in North Carolina and was doing a show at a car dealership where Moore appeared as The Lone Ranger. Moore had been stranded at the dealership, and Thomas offered him a ride back to his hotel. On the way, a passing motorist struck Thomas’s Volvo with enough force to break a headlight. Thomas gave chase and eventually cornered the man in a parking lot, where he threatened to press charges. The driver of the other car mocked Thomas, saying nobody would believe his story, but Moore emerged from the back seat of the car—still in costume—and said, "They'll believe me, citizen," to the stunned driver. With one exception, Thomas returned to Letterman's show to tell the story every December until Letterman's retirement.

Lawsuit

In 1979, Jack Wrather, the owner of the Lone Ranger character, obtained a court order preventing Moore from making future appearances as The Lone Ranger. Wrather was in the process of creating a new film version of the story and believed that Moore's public appearances in character would undermine the character's value and the film's success, as well as fuel any rumors that the 65-year-old Moore would be playing the title role in the new movie (which he was not).

Wrather's move was disastrous. Moore responded by filing a countersuit and slightly altering his costume, swapping the domino mask for a pair of Foster Grant wraparound sunglasses while participating in the company's "Who's that behind those Foster Grants?" ad campaign. The public heavily favored Moore, as reflected by moviegoers avoiding Wrather's film. The Legend of the Lone Ranger, released in 1981, received negative reviews from critics and earned only $12 million at the box office, which was two-thirds of its budget. The legal battle between Moore and Wrather continued until 1984, when Wrather unexpectedly dropped the lawsuit, allowing Moore to once again make public appearances as the Lone Ranger; Wrather passed away from cancer two months after dropping the case.

Moore & the Lone Ranger

Moore was often quoted as saying he had "fallen in love with the Lone Ranger character" and made a personal effort to embody The Lone Ranger Creed. This commitment and his public struggle to keep the right to wear the mask made Moore and his character inseparable. In this sense, he resembled cowboy star William Boyd, known for portraying Hopalong Cassidy. Moore became so closely associated with the masked man that he, as of 2006, is the only person to have his character's name alongside his own on the Hollywood Walk of Fame star. It reads: "Clayton Moore — The Lone Ranger." He was inducted into the Stuntman's Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1990. Additionally, Moore earned a spot on the Western Walk of Fame in Old Town Newhall, California.

Later life and death

In 1964, Clayton moved to Golden Valley, Minnesota, with his wife and daughter to be closer to his wife's family in Minneapolis. He obtained a Minnesota real estate license, founded Ranger Realty, and helped develop the area north of Interstate 394 near the Louisiana Avenue exit. During this time, he came across a crime scene and freed a grocery store manager shortly after the store had been robbed, reportedly quipping, "The Lone Ranger has just rescued you."

Clayton Moore passed away on December 28, 1999, in a hospital in West Hills, California, after suffering a heart attack at his home in nearby Calabasas. He was survived by his fourth wife, Clarita Moore (née Petrone), and an adopted daughter, Dawn Angela Moore. Clayton Moore is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.