Hi-Yo, Silver, the late Lone Ranger actor was born 108 years ago on Sept. 14, 1914…
By PETER BOSCH
Born September 14, 1914, Clayton Moore will forever be remembered as the best Lone Ranger of them all. From 1948 to 1957, he and Jay Silverheels as Tonto rode the TV frontier (with one season having John Hart filling in for Moore). Moore as the Lone Ranger was a great hero and inspiration to many of the baby boomer generation.
Moore’s background prior to the Lone Ranger was as a circus aerialist and then as an actor in various movies and serials in the 1940s. But it was as the masked man that he won fame forever. (Moore and Silverheels also starred in two theatrical movies, The Lone Ranger in 1956 and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold in 1958.)
Detail of a colorized lobby card from the Republic movie serial Ghost of Zorro (1949) showing an unmasked Clayton Moore.
In 1996, Moore wrote his autobiography, I Was That Masked Man. He died three years later, on Dec. 28, 1999, but he lives forever in the hearts of grown-up children who will always remember him riding off with a hearty “Hi-Yo, Silver!”
Clayton Moore was born 108 years ago. Happy birthday, Kemosabe!
Here are 13 COVERS of The Lone Ranger with Clayton Moore:
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The Lone Ranger #112 (Oct. 1957, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #114 (Dec. 1957, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #116 (Feb. 1958, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #118 (Apr. 1958, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #122 (Aug. 1958, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #125 (Dec. 1958-Jan. 1959, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #126 (Feb.-Mar. 1959, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #132 (Feb.-Mar. 1960, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #136 (Oct.-Nov. 1960, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #138 (Feb.-Mar. 1961, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #139 (Apr.-May 1961, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger #141 (Aug.-Sept. 1961, Dell)
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The Lone Ranger Golden West (1966, Gold Key)
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MORE
— 13 THINGS to Love About GREEN HORNET ’66. Click here.
— Why TV’s GREEN HORNET Deserves the Same Groovy Love as BATMAN. Click here.
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PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, has just been published by TwoMorrows. He has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. Peter lives in Hollywood.
September 14, 2022
It’s not too many fans that know The Lone Ranger & The Green Hornet are actually blood related. That would be a great scoop about how non super-powered beings throughout history are still capable of subduing evil wherever it’s found.
A made up mind is their very own super-power.
September 14, 2022
The Lone Ranger was the green hornets great Uncle and they kept it going on the TV show. He was the original Green Hornet’s son.
September 14, 2022
That is a natural extension of Philp Jose Farmer’s Wold Newton Family.
September 14, 2022
I remember being so excited for the (then) new movie coming out. I grew up watching the tv show on Sunday reruns. I also had a record with 2 stories I’d listen to over and over. But then the owner of the character’s rights sued Clayton from making appearances. Never saw that movie.
September 15, 2022
By all accounts, Moore took the role of the Lone Ranger seriously, and lived his life by that strict moral code. Anyone else playing the character is just filling in for him. Perfect marriage of character and actor. My Dad and I watched re-runs of the Moore series growing up, and I really enjoy both the color movies. I can’t recommend them enough.