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

The following were with John Wayne: Other films:

Citations

Sources