As a child growing up on a farm, I spent my Sunday mornings watching reruns of the classic The Lone Ranger television series that originally aired from 1949 to 1957 on ABC.
The Lone Ranger quickly became my idol. I would act out my fantasies of being the Lone Ranger around the farm.
At one point, despite being only 5 years old, I took to jumping out of the hayloft to land on the farm animals below and ride away, the way The Lone Ranger actor Clayton Moore would jump off house roofs onto trusty steed Silver.
Halloween costume? You guessed it – The Lone Ranger. School lunch box? Also, The Lone Ranger. Birthday cake? Yup. The Lone Ranger.
I eventually became a child actor along the West Coast. My first professional role came at the age of 9 when I played Tiny Tim in a televised adaptation of A Christmas Carol that aired on CBS affiliate KOIN.
I worked steadily as an actor, first as a child, then as an adult. But my dream was always to grow up to play the Lone Ranger.
We all have heroes. Some kids want to grow up to be police officers or professional basketball players. I wanted to be the Lone Ranger.
Fast forward to 2019. Producer and director Jeff Cook learned of my fascination with The Lone Ranger and cast me to play the iconic character in the radio play The Lone Ranger and the Canyon of Danger.
Cook’s Radio Parody Playhouse airs on Huntley’s 101.5 FM and is available as a podcast at http://huntleyradio.com/hcr/radio-parody-playhouse/.
Produced by Film Stripped Productions, Cook’s Radio Parody Playhouse specializes in taking public domain stories from the Golden Age of Radio and lovingly re-scripting them as comedies. Cook also created the web series Upstaged and regularly directs at area theaters.
Jeff Cook is tremendously talented. He has a unique brand of humor that really resonates with the public.
Other titles Radio Parody Playhouse has made available as podcasts include Superman, The Shadow, War of the Worlds, and The Maltese Falcon, among others. Cook uses the best local talents to record each episode.
Radio is a special medium – very different than film, television, or the stage, because you have to convey everything with your voice. There is no body language to help convey the story.
As to if Cook and I will reunite to bring The Lone Ranger back for additional episodes of Radio Parody Playhouse, I can say that I would love to revisit the character.
If the public wants me back, it’d be my honor to make sure The Lone Ranger rides again.
In the meantime, I encourage you all to listen to The Lone Ranger and the Canyon of Danger at: http://huntleyradio.com/hcr/radio-parody-playhouse/.
Peace. Love. Trust.