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It demonstrates how he led by example all his life.”įor trivia fans wondering why a bucket of whitewash was on the set, Dawn says it was for the horse’s coat. “He had no class distinction and would do what had to be done for the show. That story, says Dawn, illustrates her father’s work ethic. Everyone was cranky and wanted to go home. So my father grabbed the paintbrush, dipped it in the whitewash, wiped off the excess paint, and disappeared underneath Silver.” “But no one was going under the horse and start painting there!” laughed Dawn. “It was late afternoon and very hot. The director’s solution was to use whitewash paint to cover the offending anatomy. Because of the camera angle, Silver’s testicles were clearly visible in every shot – hardly a sight for prime time viewers in the 50s.” “They had done it hundreds of times before, but the director kept asking dad to re-shoot it,” recalled Dawn. “The problem turned out to be basic stallion anatomy. So these guys worked their tails off making the show!”Ī favorite story from her father’s Lone Ranger days occurred on one such hot afternoon with the director filming Moore riding around a rock and rearing up on Silver, his famous white horse. And Jay Silverheels, who played Tonto, wore an outfit of heavy suede.
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“Dad’s costume was made out of heavy wool and was skintight. “They filmed the Lone Ranger at the Iverson Ranch, near Los Angeles, where summer temperatures were over 100 degrees,” explained Dawn. So the costumer made a mold of his face and created three felt masks which were covered with resin on the inside. “The original masks used on the show impaired dad’s peripheral vision and he couldn’t see where to land after a fall. One found its way into a private collection and Dawn donated the other to the Smithsonian after her father died, in accordance with his wishes. In addition to the one sold, Moore used two other masks on the show. “The show ended in 1957 so I never saw it growing up. And when we went out, no one recognized him because his character had always been masked.” “I was eight or nine, and wondered how this stranger knew my father,” she recalled. Far more important to me are his fishing tackle and the old Coleman lamp we took on family camping trips.”Īs a child, Dawn didn’t even know her father had been the Lone Ranger until one day the pair went shopping for a television and the salesperson recognized his voice.
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“The spirit of my father doesn’t lie in the props he used for his job. “People ask how I could sell it,” she said. She even sold one of his famous Lone Ranger black masks through the Profiles in History auction house.
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For the centenary of his birth in 2014, Dawn was a guest at classic film and TV festivals where she shared the life and legacy of her father. Moore passed away in 1999 and would have turned 102 this September. He loved children and was a big kid himself with a fantastic sense of humor.” He would love it when my friends came over and would be out there playing with everybody, and giving them all nicknames. “That was just how our household worked, so I didn’t have any reason to question it. “He would be gone for two or three months at a time, but when he was home he was there 24 hours a day and was my buddy,” recalled Dawn. Like many busy actors, duties on location sets would often mean sacrificing home time for Moore. But fortunately for me, my father was an excellent example to follow.” He didn’t tell me what to do and what not to do ever, so I made plenty of mistakes and he let me make them. And that is really quite extraordinary parenting, leading by example. “He led his life and really made his decisions each day on the Lone Ranger Creed. “It’s important for me now to look back as an adult and understand that my father was not preachy,” said Dawn. The Creed, written by Fran Striker in 1933 for the original Lone Ranger radio show, was an ethical guide that emphasized friendship, respect, truth, God, country and, remarkably for the period, stewardship for the planet. “He not only acted out the Lone Ranger’s Creed on TV, but lived it.” “I still get letters from policemen, firemen, and teachers who say they chose a career in service because of him,” said daughter Dawn Moore from Los Angeles. As TV’s Lone Ranger in the 1950s, Clayton Moore was a hero both on and off the screen.