LON JR. A BRAWLER? in Horror Film Stars Forum

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LON JR. A BRAWLER?

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ShockDoc	LON JR. A BRAWLER?	Lead	[-]
Apr 11 07 11:53 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I heard somewhere that Lon and (I think) Broderick Crawford used to get tanked up, rent a motel room, and beat the crap out of each other as part of a night's entertainment. Any truth to this?
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Imhoteps Ashes	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#1	[-]
Apr 11 07 4:39 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tom Weaver confirms this in his WOLF MAN commentary, so I'm sure he can supply you with all the gruesome details. "Hideous Half-Man, Half-Beast Who Terrorized Millions!" - Tagline, WEREWOLF OF LONDON (1935)
catmandu7	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#2	[-]
Apr 11 07 6:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And he picked a fight with Richard Denning at an Universal Luncheon, certainly that would have been a black mark on his ledger at that studio. I remember Evelyn Ankers remembering Lon being angry that she had his dressing room as Universal was tired of replacing the furniture that he and Crawford ruined in thier brawls.
TomWeaver999	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#3	[-]
Apr 11 07 7:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Even in his movie fights, he could get carried away and dangerous, according to folks I've interviewed over the years. For a scene in THE BLACK SLEEP where he choked the leading lady, she told me, they had to pry him off of her(!!), and he left bruises on her neck. At some point in the mid-60s, he got fired off of some Western TV series he was guesting on, because he'd hit the director.
captainmarvel1957	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#4	[-]
Apr 11 07 9:46 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Huntz Hall told me that Jr. beat a half dozen big brawny lumberjacks senseless one night when shooting a film on location in a logging camp. The lumberjacks had beaten up some actors who were working on the film and Jr. came back to the bunkhouse where they were staying after a night of heavy drinking and when he found out about it he tracked down the lumberjacks and not one of them was left standing. Hall said the news spread like wildfire around the studio the next day and it was all the talk in the commissary.
Dr Borgo	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#5	[-]
Apr 11 07 9:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I knew there was a reason I like him less than Bela or Boris. Sounds like he was a thug. http://drborgo.tripod.com/
captainmarvel1957	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#6	[-]
Apr 11 07 11:20 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	What about the time he was at a Famous Monsters banquet and intentionally put a cigarette out on Celia Lovsky?
thehorrorboy	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#7	[-]
Apr 12 07 7:03 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Are you kidding????
captainmarvel1957	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#8	[-]
Apr 12 07 7:33 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Nope. Not kidding at all. I'm sure that Tom or Ted have heard the story as well.
Ted Newsom	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#9	[-]
Apr 17 07 6:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Oh, it was all in good fun. Besides, Sweet Cecilia was known among her intimate friends as "CeCe the Human Ashtray." She dug it. James Dean had nothing on her. No. I never heard such a thing.
Jack Linendoll	Re: LON JR. A BRAWLER?	#10	[-]
Apr 20 07 10:28 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* What about the time he was at a Famous Monsters banquet and intentionally put a cigarette out on Celia Lovsky? I thought that was Peter Lorre who did things like that.
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kochillt		#11	[-]
Nov 15 11 5:36 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Peter Lorre makes more sense, in that he was Celia Lovsky's former husband! She continued to take care of him until he died, then appeared as T'Pau on the popular STAR TREK episode "Amok Time." Lorre's second wife was Kaaren Verne, a pretty young actress best remembered for 1942's SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON. He kept fit during this second marriage playing lots of tennis, but by his third, to Annemarie Brenning, he had put on a lot of weight, and had become a father. Unlike his two previous marriages, this one was rather sad. Despite their separation at the time of his death, their ashes are buried together. His daughter Catharine, of whom he was quite proud, tragically died in 1985, age 31 or 32. Chaney had worked with Lorre in MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE, MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE, and on ROUTE 66, "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing."
kochillt		#12	[-]
Nov 19 11 10:18 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	OF MICE AND MEN shows Chaney as a sympathetic character who nevertheless was immensely powerful, and the well directed scene where he is continually punched in the face by Bob Steele until he grabs Steele's hand, effectively breaking every bone within, is downright frightening. And like many Lonfans, I cried at the ending (age 15 the first time I saw it).
Geezermonster		#13	[-]
Nov 20 11 10:45 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	At least the Lonster was never suspected of beating someone literally to death, as in the case of Wally Beery and Ted Healy. Wally was loathed by many colleagues for his bullying and cruelty. On the other hand, Louise Brooks thought he was a great guy.
kochillt		#14	[-]
Nov 20 11 11:09 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It seems likely that Beery was actually responsible, despite some claims that it was Melvyn Douglas! He was quickly dispatched overseas for a few months until things quieted down. Lon loved to brawl with Broderick Crawford and other drinking buddies, but the story Huntz Hall told about the lumberjacks shows that Chaney would come out fighting on behalf of his fellow actors. Beating people senseless is more acceptable if the varmints asked for it! Now I sound like Yosemite Sam...
Geezermonster		#15	[-]
Nov 21 11 10:59 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The story goes that Duke Wayne and Ward Bond would also do the Lonster/Brod Crawford thing and unleash whupass on each other. One story goes that Bond was relaxing in the YMCA locker room and Duke poured rubbing alcohol on Ward's chest hair and set it afire! I wouldn't have wanted to be in the middle if these two behemoths started brawling!
MYST0		#16	[-]
Dec 22 11 3:50 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Is there anything to the Lorre/Lovsky/Luckie thing? I have heard rumors about that for years and no one seems to know how they started. I never heard it was Jr. Also, thinking of the BLACK SLEEP incident, it almost sounds like Chaney WAS Lenny as time went on. Pretty scary.
strangenstein		#17	[-]
Apr 17 12 11:12 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Chaney just looks like a strong guy, not super well-developed like a body builder, but still big and strong. I'm always amazed at the scene in FMtWM when Lon has about 3 or 4 hospital orderlies on him and he looks like he's taking the scene pretty seriously. One of the orderlies gets thrown down pretty hard.
Mora		#18	[-]
Apr 18 12 9:25 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Robert Stack told me that Lon and Crawford, both of whom he worked with in "Badlands of Dakota", were known around the studio as "The Monsters". They would amuse themselves between scenes by going off together, popping back a few (!) and then start throwing punches at one another in a strange game to see who could hit harder and who could take it better, swearing and laughing during their "contest", often emerging bruised and bloody. Now those had to be the days of Hollywood . . .
Lady Tottington		#19	[-]
Apr 18 12 2:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have been thinking about all that has been said here, and I am wondering why the studios would allow all this bad behavior on the lot. Maybe I am naive, but wouldn't it have been a big problem if one of the actors was injured? Horsing around is ---maybe---just okay, but the way you folks are describing it, there could have been some real problems for makeup artists (to cover cuts) and production in general if one of their important cast members got really hurt and had to be carted off. It sounds like they needed an ambulance on constant standby when Lon was there. Today, of course, there would be the added problem of lawsuits--I don't know how much of a factor that would have been in the good old days. Anyway, I wouldn't have allowed it and unless the actor was really really bringing in a big boxoffice; I don't know if having him around would be worth the aggravation.
Elisabeth		#20	[-]
Apr 18 12 4:42 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A bit OT, but was Lon, Jr. considered a "Mean Drunk"? One who deliberately went 'gunning' for people? When I was still working, there was an elderly patron who had worked for MGM as a teenager. He knew I was a fan, so we would talk a little bit when I was off the desk. I asked him about Ted Healy (whom I like). He asked me why i would ask about "him"? I replied that there was "scuttlebutt" on the internet about his death...and that someone "important" was involved. My friend just looked at me, and said "Four against One...", and that the "focker" was sent on a pre-paid vacation. Sounds like "The 'Champ' " wasn't much of a champ, after all.... "E" Your Signature ... "....I do hope he won't upset Henry..."
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LON JR. A BRAWLER?

LON JR. A BRAWLER?