John Lewis Hart, also credited as John Hilton was an American film and television actor. In his early career, Hart appeared mostly in Westerns. Although Hart played mostly minor roles in some fairly well known films, he was probably best known for having replaced Clayton Moore in 1952 in the televis ... ion series, The Lone Ranger for one season from 1952 until 1953. Hart began his screen career in 1937 with a bit part in Daughter of Shanghai. He continued in a variety of B pictures such as Prison Farm and King of Alcatraz before appearing in two of Cecil B. DeMille's films The Buccaneer and North West Mounted Police. In 1941, Hart's acting career was interrupted when he was drafted into the United States Army. He rose to the rank of first sergeant in the Coast Artillery and eventually served in the Philippines. Following his military service, Hart worked frequently for Sam Katzman; he was given the lead role in the Jack Armstrong film serial. Hart did stunt work and acted in numerous Westerns Hart was eventually offered the opportunity to replace Clayton Moore on The Lone Ranger television series. Based on the assumption that the masked character, rather than the actor, was the true star of The Lone Ranger, the program's producers fired Moore (presumably over salary differences) and replaced him with Hart, who was of a similar build and had a comparable background in Westerns. However, the public never truly accepted Hart as the Lone Ranger, and by 1954 the producers returned Moore to the role. According to Clayton Moore's autobiography I Was That Masked Man, Moore never knew why he was replaced by Hart, and also stated that he had not sought a pay increase. Hart acted in minor roles in two episodes of The Lone Ranger before being asked to replace Clayton Moore for the entire third season. The episodes were "Rifles and Renegades" (#34) and "Sheriff at Gunstock" (#46). Hart continued to act in films for more than two decades, appearing in films of several genres, almost always in supporting roles. Hart appeared twice in on the TV series I Love Lucy as Lucy's old boyfriend and again in the Hollywood episodes as a lifeguard at the hotel pool. In 1955, Hart starred in The Adventures of Captain Africa, which was originally intended to be a new movie about famous comic book hero The Phantom. However, licensing issues forced Columbia Pictures re-film the entire serial and re-christen the hero "Captain Africa." Hart also had numerous supporting roles in the Highway Patrol TV series. In 1965 Hart made two brief appearances on the TV series Perry Mason, including the role of title character and murder victim Jamison Selff in "The Case of the Wrathful Wraith." In the 1970 film The Phynx, Hart played the Lone Ranger alongside Jay Silverheels as Tonto, spoofing their characters. Hart's last theatrical film appearance was in 1981's The Legend of the Lone Ranger in which he appeared as a newspaper editor. He appeared in the television series Happy Days as the Lone Ranger in the episode "Hi Yo, Fonzie Away". In this episode Fonzie, played by Henry Winkler, meets his childhood hero, the Lone Ranger, for his birthday. Hart's other major late appearance was in an episode of The Greatest American Hero, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, where Hart gives the title character an inspiring speech about heroism.
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| Organization | Category | Movie |
|---|
The Lone Ranger
as The Lone Ranger
Episodes: 52
First Aired: Sep 15, 1949
Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans
as Hawkeye
Episodes: 39
First Aired: Apr 03, 1957
Rawhide
as Narbo
Episodes: 9
First Aired: Jan 09, 1959
Leave It to Beaver
as Troop #21 Scoutmaster Norton
Episodes: 3
First Aired: Oct 04, 1957
Bat Masterson
as Wilson
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Oct 08, 1958
Rawhide
as Sheriff
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Jan 09, 1959
Tales of Wells Fargo
as Weaver
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Mar 18, 1957
Perry Mason
as Dion
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 21, 1957
Highway Patrol
as Sergeant at Headquarters
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 03, 1955
I Love Lucy
as Lifeguard
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 15, 1951
The Addams Family
as Scotty
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 18, 1964
The Lieutenant
as Capt. Adam Quincy
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 14, 1963
Rawhide
as Spence
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 09, 1959
Rawhide
as Nate Johnson
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 09, 1959
Rawhide
as Rep
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 09, 1959
Rawhide
as Harley Lear
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 09, 1959
Bat Masterson
as Jacobs
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 08, 1958
The Lone Ranger
as Duke
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 15, 1949
The Case of the Dangerous Robin
as Pilot
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 18, 1960
Gunsmoke
as Crowd member (uncredited)
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 10, 1955
Maigret
as Character in Corridor (uncredited)
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 31, 1960
The Greatest American Hero
as Lone Ranger
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Mar 18, 1981
Rawhide
as Slim
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 09, 1959
I Love Lucy
as Tom Henderson
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 15, 1951
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Oct 05, 1951
Gang Busters
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Mar 20, 1952
Happy Days
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 15, 1974
Pete and Gladys
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 19, 1960
National Velvet
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 18, 1960
Ben Casey
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 02, 1961
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 29, 1955
Sam
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Mar 14, 1978
The Nineties
as Self (archive footage)
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jul 09, 2017
Perry Mason
as Jamison Selff
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 21, 1957
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| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |