Not a well known name – but a successful child actor

Lee Aaker
(September 25, 1943 – April 1, 2021)

Lee Aaker, who has died recently, will be remembered mainly for the Rin Tin Tin TV series – he played in 164 episodes between 1954 and 1959.

He also appeared in Hondo (1953, above) with John Wayne, High Noon (1952), Ride Clear Of Diablo (1954) and Destry (1954).

Also ‘A Lion in the Streets’ 1954 and ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ 1952

He is quoted as saying that when the long running TV Series ‘Rin Tin Tin’ finished he was, quite quickly, out of the public eye and not ‘the centre of attention’ anymore

Such is fame – a fleeting time in the spotlight – although in fairness his film acting career lasted from 1948 until 1963 – so a good run by any yardstick

In England in the early days of Television, one of the first American Shows was ‘Rex and Rinty’ and we all loved it – It was basically the same as ‘Rin Tin Tin’ but what surprised me was that this series was made in 1935 – so well before the US Television series mentioned here.

‘Rex and Rinty’ had been directed by Ford Beebe an extraordinary character with an incredible work ethic, who wrote scripts, directed films, acted in them, cut the film and prepared it for screening – more on him in a later post.