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 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 Revenge Jorga Edwin Carewe Silent drama film The Viking Alwin Roy William Neill 1929 Bride of the Desert Fugitive Duke Worne Western film 1930 The Woman Who Was Forgotten Richard Atwell Richard Thomas 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)