Lee Aker
(September 25, 1943 – April 1, 2021)
Lee Aker, who most will remember from the Rin Tin Tin TV show, has passed away at 77. He also appeared in Hondo (1953, above) with John Wayne, High Noon (1952), Ride Clear Of Diablo (1954) and Destry (1954).
Aker suffered a stroke and died April 1 near Mesa, Arizona. Sadly, his body was unclaimed.
I remember a number of years back, there was a guy who said he was Lee Aker who guested at the western movie conventions. Nobody had seen the real Lee for many years, so he was able to get away it for a short time, until he was exposed as an impersonator. Eventually the real Lee was found and he then made guest appearances at the conventions.
My memory a bit vague on that, someone else might know more
LEE played RED CHIEF in THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF segment of the movie O. HENRY’s FULL HOUSE. I know it’s not a western but I want to mention it because of the star-studded cast. One segment had two favorites of mine-RICHARD WIDMARK and DALE ROBERTSON. In Lee’s segment his mother was played by KATHLEEN FREEMAN, a prolific character actress.
This is very sad news, especially that no one has come forward to claim his remains and arrange a funeral for him. Perhaps he outlived all his family and friends.
R.I.P. Rusty.
According to IMDB he was on the LUCY SHOW in 1963,which means he would have been about 20.He was tested for SHANE ,promised the part but lost out to Brandon De Wilde.He had a small. part in THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH,which I ordered the other day from Paramount’s limited editions series.Sad news to learn of his passing.RIP Lee.
According to Wikipedia, Paul Petersen, who works as an advocate for former child actors, is arranging Lee’s funeral. There appears to be no one else to do it. Rest In Peace, Lee.
That is good that Paul Petersen is doing that. Being this is about westerns I want to mention that Paul was in a memorable episode of THE BIG VALLEY. It was about Victoria and Audra returning home on a stagecoach and Audra is in an almost catatonic state. It also guest starred Richard Anderson.
I will watch it again tonight. Thank you for reminding me about this episode.
You are welcome!
That sounds like the episode THE LONG RIDE from 1968.
David, you are correct.
Toby, Lee Aaker as Corporal Rusty in THE ADVENTURES OF RIN-TIN-TIN(1954-59), which first aired on the ABC network, was part of my youngsterhood. I first viewed the TV show in reruns, aired on the CBS network on Saturday mornings(1962-64). At that time it was one of my favorite shows to watch, besides THE ROY ROGERS SHOW, MY FRIEND FLICKA, and others. Each week I got to see Rusty and Rinty involved in one adventure after another, along with B-Company at Fort Apache, Arizona. Those were fun and entertaining programs for children at that time and later on.
Tuesday night I had been thinking about THE ADVENTURES OF RIN-TIN-TIN and Wednesday morning when I read about Lee Aaker’s sad death and aftermath, for me, a sadness set in. Thank goodness for Paul Peterson(THE DONNA REED SHOW), who is a champion advocate for child actors of today and ex-child actors of yesteryear. Aaker and Peterson were childhood friends and it was Peterson who exposed the Lee Aaker faker in 1993.
LEE AAKER R.I.P.
I didn’t mean to misspell Paul Petersen’s name. I admire what he is doing.
Walter, of course, so do I.
I, too, watched the Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin on reruns in the early sixties, along with The Roy Rogers Show & My Friend Flicka; it really was wonderful to be a child then & to be able to spend time with such wonderful tv characters.
Just watched a 30 min interview with Lee Aker on youtube where he talks about his career .He mentions John Wayne,Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.
I just watched the YouTube interview with Lee and it was completely ruined by the interviewer not allowing Lee to answer his questions fully. He would ask a question and then as soon as Lee started to answer he would interrupt him and ask him another question. This way of interviewing is not only downright annoying and insulting to the guest, but makes the guest lose their train of thought. It would have been better if the interviewer hadn’t been so full of himself and had just shut up once in a while.
Quite a point, but never forget we are in an era of self-importance and incompetence.
David ,I agree with you .The interviewer would interrupt before he could answer.Still it was nice to see Lee talk about his life and his experiences.
Monte Hellman est mort, hier 20 avril. ” The shooting ” et ” Ride in the whirlwind ” sont dans mon top ten du genre. R.I.P. Mr Hellman.
Chip, thank you for the heads up concerning the passing away of Monte Hellman the maverick director of THE SHOOTING and RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND(both filmed 1965, somewhat released 1966). I first viewed these Western Movies on WREC CHANNEL 3’s THE EARLY MOVIE, out of Memphis, Tennessee, in the early 1970’s. I had never viewed Westerns like these two movies before. They stood out in my memory and still do.
MONTE HELLMAN R.I.P.
Hi, Walter ! I first viewed ” the shooting ‘ au Studio de l’étoile, rue Troyon à Paris en juin 1968 et ” ride…” quelques mois plus tard au Studio Marigny (Paris). ” The shooting ” est mon western préféré avec ” Johnny Guitar ” et ” the wonderful country “. Un western différent, mystérieux et envoûtant.
Chip, you and many others, in France, were able to see THE SHOOTING and RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND, years before we did here the USA. Most were not able to attend the San Francisco, California Film Festival in October, 1966, where these movies were first shown.
I like that you found these Western Movies to be mysterious and enchanting, also JOHNNY GUITAR(filmed 1953, released 1954) and THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY(filmed 1958, released 1959). THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY is so beautifully photographed on location in Mexico by Floyd Crosby and Alex Phillips. I’ve also read the novel of the same name written and illustrated by artist/writer Tom Lea, which was published in 1952. The story takes place along the straddle of the Texas/Mexico borderland of 1880-81. I think the novel and movie are both well worth reading and viewing.
BERTRAND TAVERNIER R.I.P.
The very fine French moviemaker, who loved Western Movies and Western Novels. In his own words, “I actually decided to become a film director after I saw John Ford’s SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON(1949), when I was thirteen. I wanted to film the sky and the landscapes in that way.”
I have also read the novel written and illustrated by Tom Lea, translated in French by Arthur Lochmann with postface by Bertrand Tavernier ( editor Actes sud). Bon livre, bon film.
Chip, I agree with you about THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY. Also, the twenty Western Novels that Bertrand Tavernier edited and worked to have translated into French are outstanding novels, which were adapted into outstanding movies. The novels written by A.B. Guthrie, Jr., Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Ernest Haycox, Luke Short(Frederick Dilley Glidden), W.R. Burnett, Alan LeMay, Tom Lea, Niven Busch, Harry Brown, and Charles O. Locke are worth reading. Also, there are so many more.
I have also read CIEL ROUGE( blood on the moon ) written by Luke short, translated by Arthur Loachmann, postface de B. Tavernier. Le film de Robert Wise avec Mitchum est assez fidèle au livre, à l’arrivée un beau western réaliste , proche du film noir.