 (From Old Corral collection) Above from left to right are perpetual baddie Charlie King at the desk, Eddie Dean, Lee Powell, and big and tall Glenn Strange, standing and wearing the eye shade, in this lobby card from RAIDERS OF THE WEST (PRC, 1942). Note that Powell is billed third behind singers / musicians Bill 'Cowboy Rambler' Boyd and Art Davis.  (From Old Corral collection) Above - Ted Adams (left) is all tied up in this discussion with Lee Powell in this lobby card from ROLLING DOWN THE GREAT DIVIDE (PRC, 1942). Powell looks like he's wearing a shirt patterned after those worn by Gene Autry.  (Courtesy of Les Adams) L-to-R are Lee Powell, John Elliott and Karl Hackett in a still from the Frontier Marshal trio adventure ROLLING DOWN THE GREAT DIVIDE (PRC, 1942).  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - Powell puts a necklock on I. Stanford Jolley in PRAIRIE PALS (PRC, 1942), another entry in the Frontier Marshal series. The half dozen films in this group marked the end of Lee Powell's film career.  (Courtesy of Pat LaRosa) In the above lobby card from PRAIRIE PALS (PRC, 1942), Lee Powell is delivering a left to the jaw of prolific western villain I. Stanford Jolley. |
To pick up some cash after his exit from Republic Pictures, Powell worked with the Barnett Bros. Circus, Wallace Bros. Circus, and the Hamid-Morton and Clyde Beatty Combined Circus. And he and / or the circus billed him as "The Original Lone Ranger of Talking Picture Fame", et al. As noted on an earlier webpage, lawsuits were filed to halt Powell and the circuses from using that tie-in to the Lone Ranger character and Republic cliffhanger. And in January, 1942, an appeals court ordered Powell and Wallace Bros. to stop using that Lone Ranger reference in their show and advertising.
Powell took a break from circus work for the six film 'Frontier Marshal' trio series that was churned out by Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), and those adventures were released in 1942.
Lee Berrien Powell enlisted in the Marines on August 17, 1942 in Los Angeles, and his circus and Hollywood movie career were over.
 (Courtesy of Fred D. Pfening, Jr.) |  (Courtesy of Fred D. Pfening, Jr.) Powell with the Wallace Bros. Circus, 1941 |
 (Courtesy of Fred D. Pfening, Jr.) Powell with the Wallace Bros. Circus, 1941 |  (Courtesy of Fred D. Pfening, Jr.) Powell with the Wallace Bros. Circus, 1941 |
| Powell toured with the circuses for about two and a half years, and there's scores of ads and articles on him in newspapers during the period from March, 1939 through late 1941. Here's a few and these will open in a separate window / tab:
May 4, 1939 article on the lawsuit filed against Powell and the Barnett Bros. Circus for referrring to Powell as the Lone Ranger: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102317234/the-times-tribune/ June, 1939 advertisement and photo of Powell with the Barnett Bros. Circus in Michigan: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100936170/advertisement-and-photo-of-actor-lee/ June, 1941 article on court decision that Powell and the Wallace Bros. Circus can refer to Powell as the Lone Ranger in their advertising: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102317374/the-charlotte-observer/ July, 1941 photo of Powell with the Wallace Bros. Circus in Vermont: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100936551/the-caledonian-record/ September, 1941 photo of Powell doing a Shriners benefit in Boston with the Hamid-Morton Circus: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100936122/the-boston-globe/ January, 1942 article on the Circuit Court of Appeals decision that Powell and Wallace Bros. Circus can not refer to Powell as the Lone Ranger: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102317535/san-angelo-standard-times/ | |
In September, 1999, I received a batch of circus-related material from Fred D. Pfening, Jr., and that material is displayed above.
In late November, 1998, I got a nice e-mail from cowboy and serial fan Stan Segal. He writes in part: "When I was about 7 years of age I saw Lee Powell in a circus. He rode a horse and was wearing a mask. I was with a group of other kids. I had already seen the Lone Ranger serials in the movies several years before ...." Stan thinks the year of this circus performance was either 1940 or 41. In some follow-up e-mails, I asked Stan about the horse that Powell was riding, and he thought it was white. Stan also recalled that Powell's 'uniform' seemed different than the outfit he wore in the LR serial. Thx for that great info Stan!
Stan Segal also sent me a copy of a two-page 1938 magazine article titled 'I Am The Lone Ranger' which was supposedly authored by Lee Powell. My guess is that the Republic publicity department did much of the writing.The article is on two jpeg/jpg images. If you want the article, send ye Old Corral webmeister an e-mail. Thanks Stan!
In late July, 1998, I received an e-mail from western and serial fan Bob Siler. Bob was able to provide lots of information on Lee Powell, including his full name, birth date, hometown, and most all of the details on Powell's interment. A big thank you to Bob for providing that info.
Although some of the data may be incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Lee Powell: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0694205/
The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), National Archives, trade publications, and newspapers have information on Lee Powell and family:
Some biographies on Powell mention that he attended the University of Montana. In 2022, I connected with their Alumni Office who checked their records. They found nothing on Powell attending the University of Montana. However, Powell did attend the School of Mines in Butte, Montana and was a freshman in 1926 and a sophomore in 1927. Then he went to Long Beach City College, and returned to the School of Mines circa 1931.
Two of the School of Mines yearbooks are online. When you go to the links below, click on the 'Find' button in the lower right, and then enter 'Powell' in the search box:
March 26, 1931 Long Beach Sun has an article and large photo of Powell who is doing a play for the Long Beach, California Players Guild. Mentions that he was a 1925 graduate of Long Beach, California Polytechnic High School: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100861434/the-long-beach-sun/
June 8, 1934 Long Beach Sun article on Powell's mother and father seeing him in the 'Fugiitive At Large' play for the Community Arts Players in Santa Barbara, California: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101073931/the-long-beach-sun/
The February 1, 1940 Akron, Ohio Beacon Journal newspaper had an article with a large photo of Lee Powell and new bride, Norma Rogers. They talk about Hollywood, movies, and circus life: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100703391/the-akron-beacon-journal/
The U.S. Veterans Administration has a gravesite locator to find burial locations of Military veterans: https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/ngl/index.jsp
Enter the appropriate search terms in the boxes and you should find a record for:
POWELL, LEE BERRIEN
SGT US MARINE CORPS
WORLD WAR II
DATE OF BIRTH: 05/15/1908
DATE OF DEATH: 07/30/1944
BURIED AT: SECTION F SITE 1246
NATIONAL MEMORIAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC
2177 PUOWAINA DRIVE HONOLULU, HI 96813
Info about the 'Punchbowl', the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific: http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/nmcp.asp
Find A Grave confirms that Lee Powell is interred at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9931288/lee-powell
Find A Grave has a photo of the marker for Lee's parents and sister Virginia at Sunnyside Cemetery, Long Beach, California. Interred there are: Lee Carlyle Powell (1883 - 1956), Helen B. Powell (1886 - 1977), and Helen Virginia Conrad (1912 - 1998): https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/78806649/lee-carlyle-powell
If you came here directly, you may want to read more about Lee Powell and his experiences at PRC in the Frontier Marshal trio series by clicking HERE and a separate window / tab will open with that webpage.
Read about Lee Powell, Herman Brix, the Lightning, and the FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS cliffhanger at Images, A Journal of Film and Popular Culture website: http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue04/infocus/fightingdevildogs.htm
To Old Corral Homepage