Howling good time

When Ron Chaney would write a check at the grocery store or use a credit card, it used to be store cashiers would recognize his famous family last name.

After all, it's a last name that's part of the small circle considered "Old Hollywood Royalty," ranking right up there with the Fairbanks and Barrymores.

His grandfather Lon Chaney Jr. played Universal Studios famed fur-covered fright guy the Wolf Man.

And his great grandfather, Lon Chaney Sr., is credited with starting the entire horror movie genre during the silent film era, with his starring roles in the original "Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1921) and the original "Phantom of the Opera" (1925).

"Today, when someone hears my last name or even sees it, they ask me if I'm related to Vice President Dick Cheney," said 51-year-old Ron, who I interviewed earlier this month at Hollywood Boulevard Movie Theater in Woodridge, Ill. (www.atriptothemovies.com).

"But when people do make the connection, then there's a fascination."

While during the classic silver screen years, there were a few actors used by Universal Studios to play the roles of Dracula (Bela Lugosli, John Carradine) and Frankenstein's Monster (Boris Karloff, Glenn Strange) in their movie franchise and sequels produced in the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s.

However, Ron's grandfather holds the distinction of being the only actor ever to play the Lawrence Talbot character (and his fiendish alter ego the Wolf Man).

Chaney Jr. also holds a second honor, which is, he's the only actor during his studio career ever to play all four of Universal's classic movie monsters.

In addition to "The Wolf Man" (1941), he played the Frankenstein's Monster in "The Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942), Count Dracula in "Son of Dracula" (1943) and the Mummy in "The Mummy's Curse" (1944).

Ron, who was 17 years old and in high school when his grandfather died in 1973, said he has a pair of his grandfather's Wolf Man teeth, which he treasures as a family keepsake.

However, he said it's his father's wide array of other film roles that make him equally proud.

"To me, my grandfather was just 'Gramps,' and I think the first time I really thought of him as someone famous was when I went to a movie theater to see him in his role of Lennie in John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men,'" Ron said.

"He always liked to play sympathetic, tortured soul characters."

Another role Ron said his grandfather was proud of was starring opposite Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in "High Noon" (1952).

Ron has very little to say about Universal's plan to remake "The Wolf Man" for a 2009 release, and reportedly to star actors Anthony Hopkins and Benicio Del Toro.

He has been hard at work completing a book that was originally started by his grandfather at the time of his death, titled "A Century of Chaneys." At the time Ron picked up the project, the book already had a celebrity foreword written by Bob Hope and contributions by other late greats like Lugosli, Joan Crawford and Vincent Price.

On a personal note, Ron was also very generous to make a donation to last week's "March of Dimes Dine with the Chefs" dinner, including an autographed copy of the 75th anniversary DVD boxed set of "The Phantom of the Opera," to go along with Sara Karloff's autographed copy of her famous father's Christmas cartoon character classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

The lucky live auction winners were Gerald and Diane Vellender of Beecher , Ill., who also will join me Friday at the press opening of the Broadway in Chicago stage musical "Phantom."

The March of Dimes' event met the organization's goal and raised just over $95,000 for this night that only cost the charity $600 because of the many generous donations. Well done!

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.

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