Saturday, May 15, 2010

Lee Powell-3


Lee Powell-3, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

The plot concocted by Republic’s screenwriters had Lee Powell as one of five rangers opposing an ex-Confederate guerrilla leader who is trying to become the dictator of Texas. This still shows the five actors who played the rangers. From the left are Lane Chandler, Lee Powell, George Letz (better known today as George Montgomery), Hal Taliaferro and (in the back) Herman Brix. Tonto was played by actor Victor French using the name Chief Thunder Cloud. Audience members were left to guess which of the five was the Lone Ranger.

Lee Powell’s Tonto was actually actor Victor Daniels, working under the name of Chief Thunder Cloud. Daniels was a Cherokee with a little with Scotch, Irish and German thrown in for good measure. He was educated at the University of Arizona at Tucson. He went to Hollywood in the late 1920s and worked as stuntman, doubling some of the top western stars of the day. Eventually he worked as an actor as well, which is how he happened to become the screen’s first Tonto.

Posted by Buckles at 5/15/2010 06:04:00 AM

1 comments:

Roger Smith said...

Herbie Weber did his slide for life as Chief Thunder Cloud. I enjoyed helping him drive his long irons, and twice was pressed into service as one of his cushions. First met Herbie on the Beatty show in '64. When Mrs. Beatty and Clyde, Jr., joined out in Swansea, Mass., they brought Herbie, Jr. with them on the plane. Clyde had gotten out of school for the summer in Ventura, and Herbie in Riverside.

17 May, 2010 03:22

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