Clayton Moore, the Former Lone Ranger, Los Angeles, California, USA, 1992
(catalog number 216P-140-286)
I WANTED to make a series of portraits of old-movie cowboys. I suggested the idea to Charlie Holland and Chris Dougherty at Premiere magazine, and they agreed. Some of the cowboys were famous, and others were not.
One of the cowboys whom I wanted to photograph was Clayton Moore. I had always admired him as the Lone Ranger, the character he played in the famous TV western of the 1950s. I photographed him at his home. It was a modern house, but he still lived the part of the Lone Ranger. He insisted on wearing his famous mask for all the pictures.
I had to do everything I could to make him feel at ease with my camera and me, because he was extremely paranoid. When I was finished photographing him, he insisted that I sign all kinds of papers.
As I left, I told him how much I enjoyed meeting him and that I was a big fan. He said to me, "If you're such a big fan ... what was the name of my horse?" I said, "Trigger." He looked at me in a very scornful way. I quickly realized that I had made a serious blunder. Trigger was Roy Rogers's horse; Silver was the Lone Ranger's horse. I'm sure he never forgave me.