LeRoy Mason

LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota, on July 2, 1903.

Career

1920s

Mason's first film was Hit and Run opposite Hoot Gibson (1924). He was officially credited in Born to Battle (1926) opposite Tom Tyler and Jean Arthur. In 1926, Mason starred in The Arizona Streak opposite Tom Tyler, Frankie Darro, and Ada Mae Vaughn. Also in 1926, he starred in Lightning Hutch opposite Charles Hutchison and Edith Thornton. Mason starred opposite Tom Tyler, Doris Hill, and Frankie Darro in Tom and His Pals (1926). He starred opposite William Fairbanks, Alice Calhoun, and Frank Rice in Flying High (1926). He starred in Closed Gates (1928) opposite John Harron, Jane Novak, and Lucy Beaumont. Mason starred in Golden Shackles (1928) opposite Grant Withers and Priscilla Bonner. He starred in The Avenging Shadow (1928) opposite Margaret Morris. Mason starred in The Law's Lash (1928) opposite Robert Ellis and Mary Mayberry. He starred in Hit of the Show (1928), originally a silent film, opposite Joe E. Brown, Gertrude Olmstead, and William Bailey. Mason starred in Revenge (1928) Dolores del Río, James A. Marcus, and Rita Carewe. He starred in The Viking (1928) opposite Pauline Starke and Donald Crisp. Mason starred in Bride of the Desert (1929) opposite Alice Calhoun and Ethan Laidlaw. He starred in The Woman Who Was Forgotten (1930) opposite Belle Bennett and Jack Mower.

1930s

Mason starred opposite of Lon Chaney Jr. in The Last Frontier (1932). He starred opposite Ray "Crash" Corrigan in The Painted Stallion (1937). Mason starred opposite John Wayne in Wyoming Outlaw (1939) and New Frontier (1939).

1940s

Mason starred opposite David Sharpe in Silver Stallion (1941). He starred opposite Wild Bill Elliott in Hidden Valley Outlaws (1944). In the film, Mason and John James sings the song Oh Susanna.

Personal life and death

Mason married Rita Carewe in 1928 and divorced her in 1936. He was married to actress Bo Ling; they had no children and eventually separated. A shooting accident on a film set in the 1930s caused him to lose sight in his right eye.

On October 13, 1947, Mason died of "acute myocardial infarction due to coronary thrombosis" in the Birmingham Veterans Administration Hospital in Van Nuys, California. He had been there for 31 days after suffering a heart attack on the set of California Firebrand. An Associated Press news story published October 14, 1947, says that Mason "collapsed on a Republic Studio set Monday and died a few hours later of a heart ailment."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director (s)	Notes
1924	Hit and Run	Spectator	Edward Sedgwick	Template:Plain list
1926	Born to Battle	Daley	Robert De Lacey	Silent western film
	The Arizona Streak	Velvet Hamilton
	Lightning Hutch	Frank Proctor	Charles Hutchison	Silent action film
	Tom and His Pals	Courtney	Robert De Lacey	Silent western film
	Flying High	Lester Swope	Charles Hutchison	Silent action film
1927	Closed Gates	Harvey Newell	Phil Rosen	Silent melodrama film
1928	Golden Shackles	Herbert Fordyce	Dallas M. Fitzgerald	Silent drama film
	The Avenging Shadow	George Brooks, Deputy Warden	Ray Taylor	Silent action film
	The Law's Lash	Pete Rogan - Henchman	Noel M. Smith
	Hit of the Show	Woody	Ralph Ince	Template:Plain list
	Revenge	Jorga	Edwin Carewe	Silent drama film
	The Viking	Alwin	Roy William Neill	Template:Plain list
1929	Bride of the Desert	Fugitive	Duke Worne	Western film
1930	The Woman Who Was Forgotten	Richard Atwell	Richard Thomas	Template:Plain list
	The Climax	Dr. Gardoni	Renaud Hoffman	Thriller film
	See America Thirst	Attorney	William James Craft
1932	Texas Pioneers	Mark Collins	Harry L. Fraser
	Shopworn	Toby	Nick Grinde
	Mason of the Mounted	Calhoun	Harry Fraser
	Merrily We Go to Hell	Party Guest	Dorothy Arzner	Uncredited
	The Last Frontier	Buck	Spencer Gordon Bennet	Serial
1933	The Monkey's Paw	Afghan	Wesley Ruggles	Uncredited
	Luxury Liner	Ship Passenger at Bar	Lothar Mendes	Uncredited
	King Kong	New York Theatergoer	Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack	Uncredited
	The Phantom of the Air	Mortimer Crome	Ray Taylor	Serial
	Life in the Raw	Lamson's Henchman	Louis King	Uncredited
	The Last Trail	Withers, Henchman	James Tinling	Uncredited
	I Loved a Woman	Martha's Coachman	Alfred E. Green	Uncredited
	Smoky	Lefty	Eugene Forde
	Maizie	Paul Barnes	Dallas M. Fitzgerald
1934	Are We Civilized?	Paul Franklin Jr.	Edwin Carewe
	The Dude Ranger	Dale Hyslip	Edward F. Cline
	Redhead	Pretty Boy	Melville W. Brown
	The Fighting Trooper	Andre La Farge	Ray Taylor
	When a Man Sees Red	Dick Brady	Alan James
1935	Texas Terror	Joe Dickson	Robert N. Bradbury	With John Wayne
	Northern Frontier	Stone	Sam Newfield
	The Mystery Man	The Eel, Gangster	Ray McCarey
	Rainbow Valley	Rogers	Robert N. Bradbury	With John Wayne
	Men of Action	Jim Denton - Construction Engineer	Alan James
	Call of the Wild	Pimp in Mary's Room	William A. Wellman	Uncredited
	Valley of Wanted Men	Larry Doyle	Alan James
1936	Black Gold	Henry 'Hank' Langford	Russell Hopton
	Comin' Round the Mountain	Matt Ford	Mack V. Wright
	Go-Get-'Em, Haines	Tony Marchetti	Sam Newfield
	The Border Patrolman	Courtney Maybrook	David Howard
	Ghost-Town Gold	Dirk Barrington	Joseph Kane
	Fury Below	Fred Johnson	Harry Fraser

The following were with John Wayne:

• Maker of Men (1931)
• California Straight Ahead! (1937)
• Santa Fe Stampede (1938)
• Wyoming Outlaw (1939)
• New Frontier (1939)

Other films:

• It Happened Out West (1937)
• Jungle Menace (1937)
• Heroes of the Hills (1938)
• Topa Topa (1938)
• The Painted Trail (1938)
• Saved By The Belle (1939) Columbia short w/The Three Stooges
• The Range Busters (1940)
• Rocky Mountain Rangers (1940)
• Triple Justice (1940)
• Across the Sierras (1941)
• Silver Stallion (1941)
• Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (1943)
• Raiders of Sunset Pass (1943)
• Lucky Cowboy (1944)
• The Tiger Woman (1944)
• San Fernando Valley (1944)

External links

• LeRoy Mason at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidata