Lon Chaney, Jr.

Lon Chaney, Jr. (February 10, 1906 - July 12, 1973) was an American character actor, well-known mainly for his roles in monster movies and as the son of his better-known father, Lon Chaney. He was born Creighton Tull Chaney, began acting under that name, and was first credited as "Lon Chaney, Jr." only in 1935, as a studio marketing ploy by a small production outfit.

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February 10 - 1906 - July 12 - 1973 - American - Character actor - Monster movie - Lon Chaney - Studio - Marketing

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Chaney was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and died in San Clemente, California. Chaney worked hard to avoid his father's shadow. He worked menial jobs in order to make his own way. But he also studied makeup under his father. He did not take any movie roles until after his father's death. His first movie was an uncredited role in the 1932 film Girl Crazy. He did not achieve stardom until the 1939 feature film version of Of Mice and Men, in which he played Lennie Small.

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Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - San Clemente, California - Movie - Uncredited role - 1932 - Stardom - 1939 - Feature film - Of Mice and Men - Lennie Small

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In 1941 he starred in the title role of The Wolf Man for Universal Pictures Co. Inc., which characterization and company would typcast him for the rest of his life. He maintained a career in Universal horror movies over the next few years, replaying the Wolf Man in Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein; Frankenstein's monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein; Kharis the mummy in The Mummy's Tomb, The Mummy's Ghost and The Mummy's Curse and Dracula in Son of Dracula, generally regarded as his only other significant performance in a Universal picture after the original The Wolf Man. Universal also starred him in a series of psychological mysteries tied in with the Inner Sanctum radio series. There were also attempts to star him in western hero roles, such as the serial Overland Mail, but he just as often appeared as mundane heavies. After leaving Universal, he worked sporadically, in part due to his typecasting, in part due to a drinking problem and, in later years, in part due to the ravages of throat cancer. It was because of the cancer that he played, in his final feature film, Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971), a mute zombie named Groton who was Dr. Frankenstein's assistant.

Related Topics:
1941 - The Wolf Man - Universal Pictures Co. Inc. - Typcast - Horror movie - Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman - House of Frankenstein - House of Dracula - Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein - Frankenstein - The Ghost of Frankenstein - Kharis - The Mummy's Tomb - The Mummy's Ghost - The Mummy's Curse - Dracula - Son of Dracula - Psychological - Mysteries - Inner Sanctum - Overland Mail - 1971

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He became quite popular with baby boomers, however, after Universal released its backlog of horror films to television in 1956 and Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine regularly focused on his films; and he was honored by appearing on one of a series of United States postage stamps portraying movie monsters, as the Wolf Man, in 1977 (Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster and Bela Lugosi as Dracula made up the rest of that series). He is survived by a son, Ron Chaney, who attends film conventions and graciously discusses his father's life and film career.

Related Topics:
Baby boomer - Famous Monsters of Filmland - Postage stamp - 1977 - Boris Karloff - Frankenstein monster - Bela Lugosi - Dracula - Ron Chaney

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List of Films of Creighton Chaney/Lon Chaney Jr.

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