For generations, the Whitlocks and the Laniers have been feuding, including when Vanessa Whitlock (Yvette Rees), accused of being a witch, was buried alive centuries ago. Though given the name “Creighton Chaney” by his parents, he took the name “Lon Chaney, Jr.” at the behest of a producer who wished to capitalize on the reputation of his father, who had starred in such silent classics as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Phantom of the Opera.” He sank speedily into a coma and breathed his last before the arrival of his physicians. He was 76.Cain had hoped to become the first Black politician to win the GOP presidential nominationLee’s passion for self-rule molded the island state’s rocky relationship with China.Mike Gillespie, whose teams won more than 1,500 games over a 47-year career coaching college baseball, died Wednesday at 80. But don’t get the idea it was all fun – it wasn’t. At his bedside when he died were his wife and Creighton Chaney, a son by a former marriage. He would also star in Universal’s “Inner Sanctum” series and a number of lesser thrillers through the 1940s. He is known to have contributed generously to numerous charities, though he never made publicity capital of his donations; and not one among his intimates but knew that his sympathies always were with the underdog in a struggle.Besides his wife, brother and son, Mr. Chaney leaves an infant grandson. He was regarded as occupying a unique position for his proven ability to distort his body in simulation of a hopeless cripple and to make up his face to resemble the most unearthly creatures imaginable as prescribed by the scenario writers. He has passed from the ‘set’ but he is one of screendom’s real immortals, and we always will cherish the memory of his days with us.”From his associates at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was under contract at the time of his death, came eulogies by the score, couched in words sprung from deep and lasting love of the departed artist.“His life will stand as an inspiration to all who aspire to achievement,” Louis B. Mayer said. An irrigation project in the rural bayous of Louisiana unearths living mummy Kharis, who was buried in quicksand twenty-five years earlier. 12 AM. It was based on the 1883 adventure novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson. Don’t get the idea it was all tough – it wasn’t.
All in all, Chaney would end up playing the Wolf Man five times, the barely mobile mummy Kharis three times, the Frankenstein Monster once (and again, briefly, in perhaps the best of Universal’s long run of sequels, 1948’s “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” when Glenn Strange was incapacitated), and Dracula once. Lon Chaney was a major star in this film, and he starred in two roles, those being Blind Pew and Merry.
At night, when all is quiet, an exhumed grave opens, and Vanessa Whitlock (Yvette Rees), the witch buried centuries ago, rises from the grave. Chaney’s death came as a distinct shock to all who had watched and waited with bated breath as he waged a valiant fight for life since last Saturday, when three blood transfusions were resorted to in an effort to repel anemia resulting from an acute attack of lobar pneumonia. Riders of Death Valley: Universal’s “Million Dollar Serial” with an all-star cast—Dick Foran, Charles Bickford, Buck Jones, Lon Chaney Jr., Noah Beery Jr., Leo Carrillo and more—double-crosses and chases more than most kids could handle. He was a prodigious reader and loved especially to pore over tomes on mathematical subjects. SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., July 13 (AP)—Lon Chaney Jr., the film actor, died yesterday at the age of 67. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Directed by Leslie Goodwins. He took a fling at musical comedy without notable success, then came West, appearing with the Hartmann Opera Company in San Francisco and later with Kolb and Dill.
“At Universal City we saw him make a humble start and then reach the heights of a brilliant career in the two roles he best loved. He was a few months more than 47 years of age. Though given the name “Creighton Chaney” by his parents, he took the name “Lon Chaney, Jr.” at the behest of a producer who wished to capitalize on the reputation of his father, who had starred in such silent classics as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Phantom of the Opera.” After playing a number of small, forgettable roles through the 1930s, the younger Chaney’s first role of note was ‘Lenny Small’ in the 1939 film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.” This role made great use of Chaney’s size and empathetic manner, and would remain his favorite. He finally was persuaded to give his voice to the screen, however, and his debut in the audible form of films was made recently in one of his greatest silent successes, “The Unholy Three.” Completing his performance he went to New York for treatment of the throat affliction which was to cause his death; and there contracted lobar pneumonia, which sapped his strength and rendered him a victim of anemia. A long series of illnesses had put Mr. Chaney in and out of hospitals for the last year. Born on April Fool’s Day (April 1) 1883, he started out in life as a mime; and by an odd twist of fate achieved one of the greatest successes of his career as a buffoon, namely, the heart-broken funny man in “Laugh, Clown, Laugh.”Friends in Colorado Springs, his birthplace, yesterday were quoted as always having attributed Lon Chaney’s supreme artistry as a pantomimist to the fact that his parents were deaf mutes.