From out of the west...The Lone Ranger

On January 30th in 1933, "The Lone Ranger" was heard for the first time on WXYZ Detroit. The famous radio western was not sponsored for most of the first year, until Silvercup Bread came aboard in November. It gradually built a network, and ran for 2,956 episodes before ending production in 1955. George Seaton (Stenius) was the first voice of the Lone Ranger. Jack Deeds and Earle Graser followed in the role. However, it was Brace Beemer [photo] who is best remembered as former Texas Ranger, John Reid. On radio he played the part of the black-masked Ranger, fighting for frontier justice, for thirteen consecutive years.

Wikipedia | PDX RETRO | SHOP: The Lone Ranger

FRED FOY, announcer, dies at age 89

Fred Foy, an announcer best known for his booming, passionate lead-ins and narrative to "The Lone Ranger" radio and television series, died Wednesday, 22 December 2010, of natural causes at his Woburn, Mass., home, his daughter said. He was 89. He landed the job as the announcer and narrator on "The Lone Ranger" radio show in 1948. The show's live lead-in introduced its masked cowboy hero and his trusted horse with the line: "A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty 'Hi-Yo Silver!' ... The Lone Ranger!" [video below] Foy was born in Detroit in 1921, graduated from that city's Eastern High School in 1938 and landed a job on the announcing staff of radio station WXYZ in Detroit in 1942. He was drafted into the Army that year and served in an Armed Forces Radio unit in Cairo during World War II. Foy returned to WXYZ in 1945, then three years later won the job on "The Lone Ranger," even stepping into the lead role for one radio broadcast when actor Brace Beemer had laryngitis. The introduction's signature opening line, "Hi-Yo, Silver!" was done by an actor on the radio show. He belted it out for the TV series. [Also done by actor Gerald Mohr] Foy also performed on radio series including "The Green Hornet" and "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon." In 1960, Foy began working for the ABC network. He spent five years as an announcer on the "The Dick Cavett Show" and narrated documentaries. He left ABC in the mid-1980s and later retired to Woburn.

LINKS | Wikipedia Bio
Old Radio Westerns | Search Amazon.com for Radio The Lone Ranger