Born in Oklahoma City on Feb. 10, 1906, Lon Chaney Jr. mastered the art of screen makeup techniques from his father, Lon Chaney Sr., a horror icon known as "the Man of a Thousand Faces." But even though the young Chaney made his onstage acting debut when he was just 6 months old, he was reluctant to follow in his father's footsteps, choosing instead to take jobs as a fruit picker, plumber and butcher boy.In the wake of his father's death, Chaney began to appear in feature films, most notably as the tragically strong Lennie Small in the film version of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1939) and as The Wolf Man (1941) -- a role that would typecast him in monster movies for the rest of his life.
In fact, when he died on July 12, 1973, of liver failure, he was the only actor to have played all four of the classic movie monsters: the Wolf Man, Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy.
Of Mice and MenAll that George (Burgess Meredith) and Lennie (Lon Chaney Jr.) want is a home of their own, where they can work for themselves and keep a pen of rabbits. But for the unlikely roommates, reality is to live a vagabond life, swinging from job to job and boss to boss. Just when it seems their dreams... Read More
WitchcraftWhen her grave is disturbed by greedy land developers, a vengeful witch (Yvette Rees) who was burned at the stake some 300 years ago rises again to terrorize the descendants of the family who killed her. Horror icon Lon Chaney Jr. -- the son of Hollywood's "Man of a Thousand Faces" who was best... Read More
Hawkeye & the Last of the MohicansJames Fenimore Cooper's classic novel (considered by many to be the first American novel ever written) is the basis for this epic frontier adventure series. Hawkeye (John Hart) and his faithful Mohican blood brother, Chingachgook (Lon Chaney Jr.), live in New York's untamed Hudson Valley during the... Read More
Ace Drummond: Amazing Exploits in the SkyLon Chaney Jr. stars in this serial that tracks the escapades of military pilot Ace Drummond -- nicknamed "G-Man of the Air" -- based on a comic strip by real-life World War I hero Eddie Rickenbacker. The show follows Ace as he's summoned to Mongolia to investigate a mysterious villain known as the... Read More
Scream in the NightOn the trail of international jewel thief Johnny Fly (Manuel López), detectives Jack Wilson (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Wu Ting (Philip Ahn) arrive in Singapore, where Fly has kidnapped beautiful young Edith Bentley (Sheila Terry) and snitched her valuable ruby. Because he looks strikingly similar to... Read More
