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CREIGHTON
We
was born dead.... but the Phantom of the Opera himself SHOCKED him into life
with a plunge into icy cold water.
His life was dominated by roars and cheers, greasepaint and dancing girls and
the shadow of Echo the ventriloquist, who forbade him to follow in his
footsteps.
Nights pass, and moon falls. The Man of a Thousand Faces glowed bright, and went
out quickly....
Young Creighton received the acting heart (watching his father, was there any
question?) and proceeded to disobey Alonzo the armless, who had taken a trip
with Prince Sirki, never to return.
He morphed into Cavemen, evil gangsters and warriors from an ancient cities...he
battled Ray "Crash" Corrigan. (IT From Beyond Space itself.)
He attempted to capture and tame the shadow of his father as The Bell ringer of
Notre Dame, but that part, like his father's approval, eluded him.
He became a living embodiment of Steinbeck, playing Lennie, the gentle giant
with a heart of gold and a dire future. He was applauded, lauded and loved...
Then... the monsters came a-calling. Crawling, leaping, lurching out the
Universal darkness. (Dynamo Dan, glowing with death)
The
moon rises...
And an unearthly howl, a dirge of death, shatters the peace of the foggy
Llanwelly night. Lawrence Stewart Talbot, The Wolf Man became his baby. A man
cursed, as Creighton himself was cursed.... by the legend of his father, by the
dread bottle, by his own insecurities and his new name. LON CHANEY.
Other monsters followed. Prince Kharis- the living mummy, Frankenstein's
soulless creation, the undead prince of Wallachia, Moldavia, and
Transylvania....
He changed his face time and time again and as many moons rose and many people
died at his hands, claws, etc....but he grew tired, and old.
His father, never truly allowing him to be himself....
The abuse he committed on his own body betrayed him, and his voice started to
go. His health slipped away and he eventually received an invitation edged in
black from Price Sirki himself!
When the time came, he slowly, painfully approached the dark carriage that was
to take him beyond, with Sirki at the reigns, and inside the cab, waiting with a
smile...was his father.
He took his tired, sick, and weak son into his arms, and held him. As he did,
youth and vigor returned. Accepted by The Man of a Thousand Faces for the good
he did and the goodness he shared. The father loved him for all his hard work
and dedication to his craft, and the father that brought him to life with a
plunge in icy water, accompanied him in death to a place where suffering and
human weakness no longer existed. Where they could be together, father and son,
forever in understanding and in love.
Lon Chaney Jr. Born this day.... February 10th.
Happy Birthday LON. And thank you.... thank you for never listening to your
father.
Eric Hoffman, The Famous Monsters of Filmland Answer Man, has told me that he’s
tired of the constant references to Chaney’s drinking. He feels that too much
has been said on the unpleasantness of Chaney’s life. I agree …to a certain
extent.
Look, Eric…..
I love the man. I really do.
But I think that Lon's drinking was a BIG part of who he was. The reasons he
became addicted and had the disease to begin with had to do with the pressures
of being who he was... (and more importantly, who his father was)
But
by the 1940's Lon had claimed his own star. He stepped out of the Phantom's
Shadow... He didn't need his father's name anymore (which is why he dropped ,and
hated, the junior)
Yes, he was a drinker. It is mentioned in a lot of writing, and reviews and
overviews because....well, ,let's be honest, he looked like a drinker. Towards
the end of his career, The Haunted Palace, The Black Sleep, Dracula Vs.
Frankenstein, he looked bloated, puffy and tired....oh so tired. His voice was
the voice of a heavy drinker....his raspy breath....his sweaty appearance....all
signs of a alcoholic on screen.
Then there's the incidents like the infamous Tales of Tomorrow Frankenstein
debacle....(in case some of you don't know) Lon was drunk during the live
television taping and went through his motions thinking it was still a
rehearsal. He picked up chairs and equipment that he was supposed to smash and
destroy, but then gingerly put them down again....
Ghost of Frankenstein -when he's gassed by Ludwig in the hallway, and he
struggles to find a way out, before succumbing to the effects of the gas....he's
very convincing because he really couldn't find his way out....being a little
sauced.
Then there's the anecdotes: When Glenn Strange was half buried in the wet mud at
the beginning of House of Dracula, "Man that stuff was cold". Lon (who
apparently had no shooting that day) showed up with a 5th and started giving
Glenn blasts of it to keep warm. Of course, he had a few himself...by the end of
that shoot, Glenn Strange was "looped"
Being backstage for TV and sneaking his alcohol in spirit gum bottles. When
asked by a young fan visiting the set why he was drinking spirit gum, good
natured, happy Lon answered with a smile and twinkle in his eye: "It's special
Spirit Gum, kid, It works from the inside out!
Yes, Lon Chaney was an alcoholic and it showed. BUT...not often and not all the
time. He was an actor. A damn GOOD actor, but one that was caught in the throes
of a demon of drink.
None of these stories hurt him in my eye. They make him who he is.
I will finish by saying, that I know a lot of alcoholics. They are good people,
but in the grip of the bottle, they become someone else. They actively despise
it, and are powerless to stop it. Without help, they only spiral down and away.
Lon Chaney was an actor, but was also an alcoholic. To ignore that part of him
would be to ignore his hardships and his suffering. To me, (and this is only my
opinion) my memories of Lon (and the others like Boris, Bela, Peter, Vincent)
have become something akin to the memories of a dear friend. I accept him
totally, all his faults, and his triumphs. His wit and his mournfulness.
He will always be The Master Character Creator, and in the end, he was a friend
to us all. A friend who always just wanted to help.
Rest in peace
Prof. Griffin
Creature Feature © D. Dyszel 2010
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