Lee Powell (actor)

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Lee Berrien Powell (born May 15, 1908 in Long Beach , California - † June 30, 1944 in Tinian , Pacific) was an American actor and cowboy actor .

Life

Powell attended the University of Montana and then tried his luck as an actor. After starting out in the smallest roles, he got the main roles in two serials in 1938. The Lone Ranger was a western sequel that would benefit the rest of his career from success; The Fighting Devil Dogs puts two military personnel at the center of the plot, fighting a terrorist. Both films were made for Republic Pictures . Powell turned down a subsequent offer and signed a contract with Grand National Pictures , who were planning a new western trio series. Here Powell played alongside the singing cowboy Art Jarrett and Sidekick Al St. John ; however, due to the production company's financial difficulties, only one film was made, Trigger Pals , before it went bankrupt.

For some time Powell found employment in smaller roles, including in the serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe . Then he signed with "Barnett Brothers Circus", later with "Wallace Brothers Circus" and appeared as a cowboy, announced as "The Original Talking Lone Ranger". The use of the name "Lone Ranger" resulted in lengthy legal disputes. Powell attempted a comeback to film in late 1941 when he was signed to a new western series that centered on one of the then popular trios. The thrifty Producers Releasing Corporation cast him alongside Art Davis and Bill Boyd as "Frontier Marshals". After six little notable and hardly noticed films, the series was discontinued.

On August 17, 1942, Powell enrolled in the United States Marine Corps ; after his basic training he fought in Tarawa and Saipan. After surviving one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific War, he died of symptoms of poisoning. His grave is in the "National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific" in Honolulu .

In 1940 Powell married the star rider (and daughter of the owner) of the Barnett Brothers Circus, Norma Rogers.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1938: The Lone Ranger (Serial)
  • 1938: The Fighting Devil Dogs (Serial)
  • 1939: Trigger Pals
  • 1942: Along the Sundown Trail

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James E. Wise, Jr.: Stars in the Corps. Movie Actors in the United States Marines. Naval Institute 1999, pp. 164/165
personal data
SURNAME Powell, Lee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Powell, Lee Berrien (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and cowboy actor
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Long Beach , California
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 1944
Place of death Tinian , Pacific