Film festival a dream come true
A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver! The Lone Ranger rode again.
After years of planning, the 75th anniversary celebration of the Lone Ranger was held two weeks ago at the Memphis Film Festival. It was an amazing event, but not in the way I anticipated.
I expected an event where I would get to rub elbows with celebrities and meet people from the Lone Ranger Fan Club that I had only communicated with via phone and e-mail. What I didn’t expect was to actually befriend and form lasting relationships with these people. It wasn’t just the fan club members, but the celebrities as well.
Several of the movie stars that were invited were child actors in the 1950s and haven’t had an acting job since they became adults. Some have continued their careers, but aren’t generally marquee names.
Noel Neill, who is best known for playing Lois Lane on “Adventures of Superman,” was the biggest star there. She was also the smallest, but that’s a different story. She was sweet as could be and treated everyone like they were old friends.
Since we were also celebrating the 70th anniversary of Superman, Neill was a natural to bring to Memphis. It helped that she did an episode of “The Lone Ranger.” One other actress had a link to both heroes.
Beverly Washburn was in the motion picture “The Lone Ranger” with Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. She had a part in the movie “Superman and the Mole Men,” which became the first episodes of the TV show. She also did a “Star Trek” episode, of which I’m a huge fan. Most people, however, remember her as the little girl on “Old Yeller.”
Two guest stars that appeared in more Westerns than you can shake a stick at were Dick Jones and Gregg Palmer. Jones was Jock Mahoney’s sidekick in “Range Rider.” He was also the voice of Disney’s Pinnochio.
Palmer is a ham and can do the best imitations of John Wayne, Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart I’ve ever heard. He was always cracking people up. He said he wanted to come to the festival so bad that he turned down two jobs to join us – painting the kitchen and fixing the screen door.
Bob Hoy was a late addition to the lineup. He replaced radio announcer Fred Foy, who backed out for health reasons. Hoy was primarily a stuntman and did some stunts for Jay Silverheels, who was Tonto on the Lone Ranger. Hoy was also a henchman in Butch Cavendish’s gang in “The Legend of the Lone Ranger.” He had some great stories to tell about his stunt work.
Other actors with Lone Ranger ties included Claudia Barrett, Michael Chapin and Lanny Rees. Barrett did an episode each with Clayton Moore and John Hart. Chapin did one Lone Ranger, but is best known for his part in “Rough Ridin’ Kids.”
Rees is one of the actors I got to know well. He did one Lone Ranger episode, but is best known as Junior Riley in the movie and television show “The Life of Riley” with Jackie Gleason. Once he reached draft age, Uncle Sam came calling. After the service, he married and took regular jobs. He was a mechanic most of his life.
I think Rees got the most of anybody out of the festival. He was just a regular guy whose film career is largely forgotten. But for one weekend he got star treatment, and boy did he shine!
Barrett was reunited with Gregory Moffett, who was one of the Superman guests. They were in the 3-D cult classic horror film “Robot Monster.” Moffett, like Rees, gave up film when he grew up. He was just as star-struck as anyone else at the festival.
The glamorous Laurie Mitchell, though no longer the blonde bombshell she was in the ’50s, was flirty and fun and a real joy to be around.
We were also graced by the Perreau sisters, GiGi and Janine. They often competed with Beverly Washburn for roles and the three of them had stories to share. Though he didn’t have a connection to the Lone Ranger or Superman, Kenny Miller was an invited guest. He starred with Mitchell in “Attack of the Puppet People.” He was also in “I was a Teenage Werewolf,” among others.
The one celebrity I got to know best was Jeffrey Breslauer. He has done a lot of work with the Muppets and appeared in an episode of “Superboy” in 1991. His voice can be heard as that of the Joker in the Batman attraction at all the Six Flags theme parks.
A bonus was the appearance of Gordie Peer, who used to tour the rodeo circuit with Clayton Moore. Peer entertained us with stories and his skills with a whip and his gun spinning.
Of course, I’ve done gone and spent all my time bragging about the celebrities and failed to mention the fellow fans that I got to know.
It’s also nice to know that I’m not the only one who owns a Lone Ranger outfit and isn’t afraid to wear it in public.
After years of planning, the 75th anniversary celebration of the Lone Ranger was held two weeks ago at the Memphis Film Festival. It was an amazing event, but not in the way I anticipated.
I expected an event where I would get to rub elbows with celebrities and meet people from the Lone Ranger Fan Club that I had only communicated with via phone and e-mail. What I didn’t expect was to actually befriend and form lasting relationships with these people. It wasn’t just the fan club members, but the celebrities as well.
Several of the movie stars that were invited were child actors in the 1950s and haven’t had an acting job since they became adults. Some have continued their careers, but aren’t generally marquee names.
Noel Neill, who is best known for playing Lois Lane on “Adventures of Superman,” was the biggest star there. She was also the smallest, but that’s a different story. She was sweet as could be and treated everyone like they were old friends.
Since we were also celebrating the 70th anniversary of Superman, Neill was a natural to bring to Memphis. It helped that she did an episode of “The Lone Ranger.” One other actress had a link to both heroes.
Beverly Washburn was in the motion picture “The Lone Ranger” with Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. She had a part in the movie “Superman and the Mole Men,” which became the first episodes of the TV show. She also did a “Star Trek” episode, of which I’m a huge fan. Most people, however, remember her as the little girl on “Old Yeller.”
Two guest stars that appeared in more Westerns than you can shake a stick at were Dick Jones and Gregg Palmer. Jones was Jock Mahoney’s sidekick in “Range Rider.” He was also the voice of Disney’s Pinnochio.
Palmer is a ham and can do the best imitations of John Wayne, Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart I’ve ever heard. He was always cracking people up. He said he wanted to come to the festival so bad that he turned down two jobs to join us – painting the kitchen and fixing the screen door.
Bob Hoy was a late addition to the lineup. He replaced radio announcer Fred Foy, who backed out for health reasons. Hoy was primarily a stuntman and did some stunts for Jay Silverheels, who was Tonto on the Lone Ranger. Hoy was also a henchman in Butch Cavendish’s gang in “The Legend of the Lone Ranger.” He had some great stories to tell about his stunt work.
Other actors with Lone Ranger ties included Claudia Barrett, Michael Chapin and Lanny Rees. Barrett did an episode each with Clayton Moore and John Hart. Chapin did one Lone Ranger, but is best known for his part in “Rough Ridin’ Kids.”
Rees is one of the actors I got to know well. He did one Lone Ranger episode, but is best known as Junior Riley in the movie and television show “The Life of Riley” with Jackie Gleason. Once he reached draft age, Uncle Sam came calling. After the service, he married and took regular jobs. He was a mechanic most of his life.
I think Rees got the most of anybody out of the festival. He was just a regular guy whose film career is largely forgotten. But for one weekend he got star treatment, and boy did he shine!
Barrett was reunited with Gregory Moffett, who was one of the Superman guests. They were in the 3-D cult classic horror film “Robot Monster.” Moffett, like Rees, gave up film when he grew up. He was just as star-struck as anyone else at the festival.
The glamorous Laurie Mitchell, though no longer the blonde bombshell she was in the ’50s, was flirty and fun and a real joy to be around.
We were also graced by the Perreau sisters, GiGi and Janine. They often competed with Beverly Washburn for roles and the three of them had stories to share. Though he didn’t have a connection to the Lone Ranger or Superman, Kenny Miller was an invited guest. He starred with Mitchell in “Attack of the Puppet People.” He was also in “I was a Teenage Werewolf,” among others.
The one celebrity I got to know best was Jeffrey Breslauer. He has done a lot of work with the Muppets and appeared in an episode of “Superboy” in 1991. His voice can be heard as that of the Joker in the Batman attraction at all the Six Flags theme parks.
A bonus was the appearance of Gordie Peer, who used to tour the rodeo circuit with Clayton Moore. Peer entertained us with stories and his skills with a whip and his gun spinning.
Of course, I’ve done gone and spent all my time bragging about the celebrities and failed to mention the fellow fans that I got to know.
It’s also nice to know that I’m not the only one who owns a Lone Ranger outfit and isn’t afraid to wear it in public.
posted by Joe Southern | 11:47 AM
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