If one is a horror film fan, one cannot avoid the name Lon Chaney, which was borne by both father (Senior) and son (Junior). Senior became a star of the silent film era, known as The Man Of A Thousand Faces, for his ability to slip in and out of makeup, to the point that it was rare for him to be seen, in public, in his lifetime, with his real face.
Aside from Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Charlie Chaplin, the elder Chaney was arguably the biggest star of the silent film era. While he appeared across genres, his two most famous roles were as Quasimodo in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and as The Phantom Of The Opera's 'Phantom.'
His son continued in his father's footsteps. He did not begin his career until after his father's death, in 1930, but in the 1940s became a staple of the Universal Studio's horror series, as The Wolf Man, in that film series.
His most famous non-horror role was in the western High Noon. But he did essay the Frankenstein monster as well:
LON CHANEY FRANKENSTEIN 1
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This was a television show, and Chaney's makeup here would influence later portrayals of the monster away from the flatheaded fiend popularized by Boris Karloff.
Both men had their ups and downs in the business, but both are now immortalized under the same name, and one cannot help but think that, centuries from now, their old 20th Century films will still be entertaining bored people in search of a fright on distant worlds.
