September 14 Birthday Wishes

Hal B. Wallis [1899 - 1986]
Clayton Moore [1914 - 1999]
Douglas Kennedy [1915 - 1973]
Harve Presnell [1933 - 2009]

Howdy Manco!!

Hal.B.Wallis got his start by managing a theater for Warner Bros back in the 1920's. He was promoted to head of the publicity department and eventually produced literally hundreds of films for Warner Bros, although he was uncredited for them. Pushed out by Daryl.F.Zanuck for many years, after Zanuck left Warner Bros, Wallis returned to head up the studio until 1944. He formed his own production company and produced Becket, The Maltese Falcon, True Grit, Rooster Cogburn and a string of Elvis movies that made a fortune for his studio.

Clayton Moore began his film career in 1937 and was cast in dozens of b-westerns, including the role of another famous masked man, Zorro, as Kit Carson, Jesse James Rides Again and others, before being offered the role of The Lone Ranger in 1949. He worked diligently on mastering the voice of the radio character and after playing bad guys in other famous matinee star's films, ie. Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, he made the character of The Lone Ranger a film icon from 1949-1952. After a salary dispute, he was replaced by John Hart for a year, but was again cast in the role from 1952-1957. After the series cancelled, Moore made several movies as The Lone Ranger and appeared in several other t.v. westerns, like Wild Bill Hickok and The Adventures Of Kit Carson. He continued to make public appearances for the next 30 years, but in 1975, the owner of the character, Jack Wrather, who was involved with making a new film with Klinton Spillsbury( The Legend Of The Lone Ranger) sued in court to stop Moore from wearing the costume and the mask. The new Ranger film FLOPPED MISERABLY and in the 1980's, Wrather relented and once again allowed Moore to wear the mask and costume. According to Clayton Moore, once he was cast as The Lone Ranger, he never wanted any other role. If you look closely, in the James Arness, 1980's t.v. mini-series, The Alamo, 13 Days To Glory there is a character played by a fella named Jerry Potter in the film. This fella was none other than Clayton Moore. I don't know what Johnny Depp and his co-star have planed for the new Disney remake of this western character, but whatever it is, I hope they don't do anything to tarnish the legend created by Clayton Moore. That would be a tragedy!!

Douglas Kennedy made his film debut in 1940 and appeared in dozens of films in bit parts, often uncredited for about 10 years. He was cast in Fighting Man Of The Plains and Ma And Pa Kettle Go To Town among others, In the mid 50's, Kennedy turned to the new medium, television and found success. He appeared in such t.v. series as The Life And Times Of Wyatt Earp, Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, The Adventures Of Jim Bowie, Yancy Derringer and in 1955, he was cast in the role he will probably be best remembered for, that of Steve Donovan, U.S. Marshal in the series of the same name. After the series was cancelled, Kennedy continued to appear in many of the western series through the 1970's.

Harve Presnell came to Hollywood back in the 50's, with a beautiful golden baritone voice, but the days of the musicals were over and after singing in Paint Your Wagon and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, he left Hollywood for nearly 20 years to appear on stage. When he returned, he still had that great voice and was selected to play General Marshall in one of the greatest WW II films of all time, Saving Private Ryan. He is the fellow who read the letter, written by Abraham Lincoln, to his fellow officers in his office and directed them to find the last of the Ryan brothers. His voice is featured again at the end of the film, repeating the letter sent to .Mrs Ryan from the War Department. He also appeared in Fargo, Face Off, Flags Of Our Fathers, The Legend Of Bagger Vance and had a recurring role on the 1990's t.v. series, The Pretenders. .Mr Presnell passed on in 2009, but when I hear that unmistakable, deep, rumbling voice, I will remember him.

Ed

Also today:

Melissa Leo (1960-) started out in the soap opera All My Children, for which she received a Daytime Emmy nomination. She was then cast as Emma Shannon, whose farm became the Sweetwater, Nebraska Pony Express station on the first season of The Young Riders. She received acclaim for her role as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on Homicide: Life on the Street. In 2010, she won several awards, including the Ocscar for Best Supporting Actress, for the role of Alice Ward in The Fighter.