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44-632: Jack Chertok (July 13, 1906 – June 14, 1995) was an American film and television producer perhaps best known to modern viewers as producer for the 182 black and white episodes of The Lone Ranger . Born in Atlanta, Georgia , to Russian-Jewish immigrants Annie Rouglin Chertok and Isadore Chertok, Chertok began his career in the mid-1930s, when he began producing a wide variety of film shorts for MGM , including comedies, documentaries and crime dramas . His comedy short How to Sleep , starring Robert Benchley , won

88-619: A daughter of former Texas Governor W. Lee O'Daniel . In 2003, Rhino Retro Vision, working with Classic Media, released a box set of the first 19 episodes of the 5th season, in color as originally filmed. On March 31, 2009, Mill Creek Entertainment released the box set Gun Justice featuring The Lone Ranger with other Westerns, including Annie Oakley , The Adventures of Kit Carson , The Cisco Kid , Cowboy G-Men , Judge Roy Bean , The Gabby Hayes Show , and The Roy Rogers Show . On November 11, 2009, Classic Media released The Lone Ranger: 75th Anniversary Edition to commemorate

132-478: A mask from his brother's clothes and to create an empty sixth grave to appear that he is dead. The "lone" surviving ranger thereafter disguises himself with the black mask Tonto made and travels with Tonto throughout Texas and the American West to assist those challenged by the lawless elements. In the first episode they are attacked from above just after he recovers and Tonto distracts the attacker from above as

176-514: A new radio series with a cowboy as the hero. He wanted a mysterious hero who would have the same type of appeal as Zorro or Robin Hood . The target audience included children, so Trendle insisted on a wholesome hero with high moral standards. Violence and romance were to be minimized. Trendle worked out the basic concept of a masked vigilante, a lone Texas ranger with a big white horse, in staff meetings with Jim Jewell and studio manager Harold True. Then it

220-566: A reputation as a tough negotiator specializing in movie contracts and leases. Trendle became involved in the Detroit-area entertainment business in 1928 when local motion picture theater owner John H. Kunsky offered Trendle 25 percent ownership in exchange for his services. Kunsky had been an early investor in Nickelodeons beginning in 1905. In 1911, he built the first movie theater in Detroit. It

264-469: A set of books to show employees that the company was losing money and could not afford to pay higher salaries. Trendle and Campbell often responded to employee requests for salary increases by downplaying their value to the company and threatening to fire them. This threat was particularly effective during the Depression. Trendle specified the music on WXYZ shows should be non-copyrighted classical so that

308-590: A written request; the station received nearly 25,000 replies. In July, the Lone Ranger made a public appearance at a park and a crowd estimated at 70,000 gathered. Trendle recognized the value of the Lone Ranger and forced Striker and Jewell to sign over all rights. Along with the legal rights, Trendle claimed credit as the creator of the Lone Ranger. Trendle and his partners kept most of the profits from radio syndication, movie rights, and merchandising while Striker and Jewell were given little more than their salaries. By

352-547: Is credited as having built the historic Alger Theater, which opened August 22, 1935, on Detroit's east side. Trendle was fired from the United Detroit Theatres for "negligence" in 1937. Trendle and Kunsky formed the Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company in 1929 after purchasing Detroit radio station WGHP. The radio station's call letters were changed to WXYZ . Trendle was the president and Kunsky

396-478: Is credited with signing Silvercup Bread (of the Gordon Baking Company) as the first sponsor for the Lone Ranger series. This was a big account and helped to bring the show to nationwide syndication. Apparently, Campbell's contributions to the business were significant. He continued working for Trendle for the next twenty years and eventually became one of Trendle's business partners. Campbell reportedly kept

440-466: Is known as Lone Ranger Rock and remains in place today near the site of the Iverson movie ranch. When it came time to produce another batch of 52 episodes, there is speculation of a wage dispute with Clayton Moore (although he stated in his autobiography I Was That Masked Man that he never really knew exactly why he was dismissed), and John Hart was hired to play the role of the Lone Ranger. Once again,

484-569: The Michigan Regional Network ) and a construction permit for what would later become WXYZ-TV (channel 7) but did not include ownership of Trendle's radio programs. The FCC approved ABC's purchase on July 18, 1946. In 1952, Paramount Theaters (owners of Kunsky and Trendle's former chain of Detroit area theaters) acquired ABC, including WXYZ. Trendle entered into a new partnership with long-term business associates H. Allen Campbell and Raymond Meurer. The Trendle-Campbell Broadcasting Company

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528-505: The Nielsen ratings for the 1950–1951 season, number 18 for 1951–1952, and number 29 for 1952–1953. A group of six Texas Rangers is ambushed and all are shot, apparently dead. In the hot sun, one lives and crawls to a pool of cool water which saves his life. He is found by a native Indian, Tonto, who buries the five other rangers, one of whom is the survivor's brother. Tonto tends to the survivor's health and complies with his wish to make him

572-606: The 1930s, expanding its studios, raising its daytime power from 1,000 to 5,000 watts in the late 1930s, and increasing nighttime power to 5,000 watts in time for its mandated 1941 move from 1240 to 1270 kHz under the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement . In 1931, Kunsky-Trendle acquired WASH and WOOD in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The two stations merged facilities, including studios and transmitters, but retained both station licenses. WASH

616-616: The 1935 Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Comedy . He was the producer for many short films in MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series and produced many of the Our Gang shorts after MGM took over that series from Hal Roach . In 1949, Chertok made the move to television, producing 182 episodes for The Lone Ranger television series. He is also credited as a producer for other series such as Sky King , Steve Donovan, Western Marshal , Cavalcade of America for DuPont , and The Lawless Years . He

660-434: The 52 new episodes were aired in sequence followed by 52 weeks rerunning them. Despite expectations that the mask would make the switch workable, Hart was not accepted in the role, and his episodes were not seen again until the 1980s. At the end of the fifth year of the television series, Trendle sold the Lone Ranger rights to Jack Wrather , who bought them on August 3, 1954. Wrather immediately rehired Clayton Moore to play

704-508: The Lone Ranger first shoots the attacker then tries to climb the cliff he is on. The episode ends with him on the cliff but slipping. A silver mine in the second episode supplies The Lone Ranger with the funds required to finance his wandering lifestyle and the raw material for his signature bullets. Also in Season One, Episode Two, The Lone Ranger and Tonto come upon a prone white horse severely injured by an American Bison. The Lone Ranger shoots

748-437: The Lone Ranger, and another 52 episodes were produced. Once again, they were broadcast as a full year of new episodes followed by a full year of reruns. The final season saw a number of changes, including an episode count of 39, which had become the industry standard. Wrather invested money from his own pocket to film in color, although ABC telecast only in black and white. Wrather also went outdoors for action footage. Otherwise,

792-626: The age of 88 in Los Angeles, California. The Lone Ranger (TV series) The Lone Ranger is an American Western television series that aired on the ABC Television network from 1949 to 1957, with Clayton Moore in the starring role. Jay Silverheels , a member of the Mohawk Aboriginal people in Canada, played the Lone Ranger's Indian companion Tonto . John Hart replaced Moore in

836-690: The beginning of 1934, the show was syndicated to WGN , Chicago, and WOR , Newark. Other stations soon followed. The live broadcasts were transmitted over telephone lines to the other stations. When the Mutual Broadcasting System was created in 1934, WXYZ became a charter member and the Lone Ranger program was featured on the Mutual Network. Although WXYZ dropped out to join NBC Blue about a year later, contractual obligations kept The Lone Ranger on Mutual until 1942, during this period The Lone Ranger

880-445: The buffalo before it can kill the horse. They then attend to the stricken horse. When, after some days, he is healed, they contemplate his name. Tonto says that he is "Like a mountain with snow - silver white". The Lone Ranger states that "Silver" will be his name. At the end of most episodes, after The Lone Ranger and Tonto leave, someone asks the sheriff or other person of authority who the masked man was. The person then responds that it

924-478: The color series was broadcast on June 6, 1957, and the series ended September 12, 1957, although ABC reaped the benefits of daytime reruns for several more years. Wrather's company produced two modestly budgeted theatrical features, The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958). The cast included former child actress Bonita Granville , who had married Wrather after his divorce from

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968-543: The entire 78 episodes were shown again before any new episodes were produced. All were shot in Kanab, Utah and California . Much of the series was filmed on the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California , including the opening sequence to each episode, in which the cry of "Hi-yo Silver" is heard before the Lone Ranger and Silver gallop to a distinctive rock and Silver rears up on his hind legs. The rock seen next to Silver

1012-628: The music was royalty-free. This is the reason that the William Tell Overture was adopted as the Lone Ranger theme and The Flight of the Bumble Bee became the theme for the Green Hornet show. In June 1932, Trendle decided to drop the network affiliation to operate WXYZ as an independent station. His station would produce its own radio drama series and broadcast locally produced music programs rather than pay for syndicated programs. Jim Jewell

1056-703: The rest of the run of the radio series and on the TV series episodes produced by Trendle's company. In 1938, Trendle asked his writing staff to create an adventure series featuring a dog as the hero. Writer Tom Dougall created Challenge of the Yukon , a series about Sergeant Preston of the North-West Mounted Police and his sled dog Yukon King . In 1939, Striker created Ned Jordan Secret Agent for WXYZ. In 1949, Trendle hired former MGM film producer Jack Chertok to produce The Lone Ranger television series. Trendle

1100-536: The scripts for the series. In 1937, Trendle licensed Republic Pictures to produce a movie version of The Lone Ranger. Trendle was not happy with changes that were made in the movie adaptations and hired attorney Raymond Meurer to oversee licensing of the franchise. However, Trendle did like the incidental music Republic used on the serial's soundtrack and acquired the right to use it on The Lone Ranger. In 1939, when The Lone Ranger moved from Mutual to NBC (Blue), new arrangements were recorded by The NBC Symphony and used for

1144-447: The series was mostly filmed on a studio sound stage. Another big change, not readily detectable by the viewers, was replacing Jack Chertok with producer Sherman A. Harris. By this time, Chertok had established his own television production company and was busy producing other programs. Wrather decided not to negotiate further with the network and took the property to the big screen and canceled television production. The last new episode of

1188-474: The show. On June 4, 2013, Classic Media released The Lone Ranger: Collector's Edition , a 30-disc set featuring all 221 episodes of the series on DVD, though many of the episodes are the syndicated edits missing two to three minutes. There were two animated cartoon series starring the Lone Ranger: George W. Trendle During the 1920s, George W. Trendle was a Detroit lawyer who had established

1232-519: The start of the Great Depression, and Trendle took many cost-cutting moves that earned him a reputation as a penny-pincher. According to Dick Osgood in his book Wyxie Wonderland: An Unauthorized 50-Year Diary of WXYZ Detroit , he was assisted in this by H. Allen Campbell. Campbell was an advertising salesman for the Hearst organization whom Trendle hired to find sponsors for his radio programs. Campbell

1276-541: The theaters to a Paramount subsidiary named United Detroit Theatres. In 1948, Paramount's monopoly became the focus of an antitrust suit initiated by the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (SIMPP). As part of the deal, Trendle and Kunsky were prohibited from reentering the movie business in Detroit. However, Zukor apparently recognized Trendle's talents and hired him to manage the Paramount theaters in Detroit. Trendle

1320-587: The third performance was also recorded on a transcription disk for later broadcast on stations that did not have a live connection to the network. In 1936, The Green Hornet was added to the roster of WXYZ programs. The Green Hornet was a modern-day masked crime fighter named Britt Reid and was descended from the Lone Ranger's nephew Dan Reid. He was assisted by his Japanese (later changed to Filipino when American involvement in World War II grew more likely) valet Kato, who used martial arts. Fran Striker wrote most of

1364-461: The title role from 1952 to 1953 owing to a contract dispute. Fred Foy , who had been both narrator and announcer of the radio series from 1948 until its ending, was the announcer. Gerald Mohr was originally employed as the narrator for the television series, but story narration was dropped after 16 episodes. The Lone Ranger was the highest-rated television program on ABC in the early 1950s and its first true "hit". The series finished number 7 in

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1408-515: Was The Lone Ranger, who is then heard yelling "Hi-Yo Silver, away!" as he and Tonto ride away on their horses at full run. George W. Trendle retained the title of producer, although he recognized that his experience in radio was not adequate for producing the television series. For this, he hired veteran MGM film producer Jack Chertok . Chertok served as the producer for the first 182 episodes. The first 78 episodes were produced and broadcast for 78 consecutive weeks without any breaks or reruns. Then

1452-530: Was a reporter being held on espionage charges in Czechoslovakia. The series was cancelled at the end of its first season. In July 1954, Trendle sold the rights to the Lone Ranger to the Wrather Corporation for $ 3 million. The radio series ceased at that time, but the television series continued until 1957 with Jack Wrather as the new executive producer. From 1955 to 1958, the radio program Challenge of

1496-524: Was changed to WSNL in 1997. The station is currently owned by The Christian Broadcasting System. Three of the four towers were demolished in 2003 to make room for redevelopment of the site. The fourth tower was removed in 2004 after new transmitting facilities were completed in Gaines Township , southwest of Flint. Another Trendle-Campbell radio station ( WPON ) went on the air in December 1954. The station

1540-431: Was credited as executive producer. In 1950, Trendle began producing Bob Barclay - American Agent . Bob Barclay was an undercover agent for the U.S. Government with a cover identity as a news correspondent. Trendle received complaints from the U.S. Government because the stories sounded too much like actual cases. The American press also complained that the series was hurting the real-life situation of William Oatis . Oatis

1584-487: Was executive producer for the television series Private Secretary (1953–57), Steve Donovan, Western Marshal (1955–56), Johnny Midnight (1960), My Favorite Martian (1963–66), and My Living Doll (1964–65). During the early 1960s, Chertok ran a summer camp in Barton Flats, California , named Camp Purple Sage, which featured horseback riding, arts and crafts, ping-pong, etc. On June 14, 1995, Chertok died at

1628-552: Was formed in 1946 and started radio station WTCB in Flint, Michigan . The new radio station went on the air April 26, 1946, with a four-tower 1000-watt broadcast array. The call letters were later changed to WTAC. In 1953, they added UHF television station WTAC-TV affiliated with ABC TV and DuMont . The TV station went out of business less than a year later because too few TVs at the time were equipped to receive UHF channels. The radio station has changed owners several times and its call sign

1672-528: Was hired as the station's dramatic director and supplied the actors from his own repertory company, the "Jewell Players." Freelance radio writer Fran Striker was hired to write many of these programs. The earliest dramatic radio series included Thrills of the Secret Service , Dr. Fang , and Warner Lester, Manhunter . Striker wrote many of the scripts and eventually became head of WXYZ's script department. Late in 1932, Trendle began discussing ideas to create

1716-510: Was located in Pontiac, Michigan , with studios in the Waldron Hotel in downtown Pontiac. Trendle and Campbell were reportedly still in charge of station operations in the late 1960s. In 1987, WPON's transmitter was moved from Pontiac to Walled Lake. The station is currently owned by Southfield-based Birach Broadcasting and has a talk-and-oldies format. The Kunsky-Trendle business venture began at

1760-601: Was on the air from 8 a.m. to noon, and WOOD from noon to midnight. WOOD-WASH became an NBC Red affiliate in 1935. King and Trendle decided to drop the WASH license in 1942, keeping the WOOD identification. In 1946, the newly formed American Broadcasting Company purchased the King-Trendle Broadcasting Company and its radio stations for $ 3.65 million. This sale was for the broadcast facilities (including WOOD, WXYZ, and

1804-513: Was produced at WXYZ but heard in the Detroit area over Mutual's new affiliate, CKLW . It then switched to the NBC Blue Network, which became ABC in 1943. The popularity of the series rapidly grew and it was eventually heard on 249 radio stations nationwide. In order to service a nationwide audience, the live broadcast was performed three times, once for each time zone. Beginning in February 1938,

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1848-517: Was the second movie theater in the nation. By 1928, he owned twenty movie theaters, including four of the largest first-run theaters in Detroit. Kunsky was being driven out of the theater business when Adolph Zukor acquired the Detroit area film exchange known as the Cooperative Booking Office and began pressuring local theater owners to sell out to Paramount . Trendle negotiated to sell Kunsky's theatres for $ 6 million. Zukor transferred

1892-525: Was the vice president of the company. Trendle was active as the station manager. Kunsky is rarely mentioned except as co-owner. WXYZ was initially affiliated with the Columbia Broadcasting System but became an independent station within a year. Trendle's partner, Kunsky, legally changed his name to King in 1936, and the Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company became the King-Trendle Broadcasting Company. WXYZ improved its technical facilities through

1936-416: Was turned over to Fran Striker to flesh out the details and provide the scripts. His contributions included silver bullets and an Indian companion. The result was The Lone Ranger , which began broadcasting January 30, 1933, on WXYZ and the seven other stations of the Michigan Regional Network . The Lone Ranger was an almost immediate hit. In May, a free popgun was offered to the first 300 listeners to send

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