Jack or Jock Mahoney as he was known depending on what point in his career he was played The Range Rider for a few seasons on television. The show was part of Gene Autry's Flying Crown stable of television shows.
I remember The Range Rider because of the fact that Mahoney really did favor the old fashioned frontiersman manner of dress. Other than a cowboy hat and the regulation six shooter, he wore buckskins and Indian moccasins. His youthful companion Dick West favored the more traditional cowboy garb, in fact his outfit was black like Hopalong Cassidy's.
We never did learn what the Range Rider's real name was. He just rode into town with Dick, righted the wrongs and left all in 30 minutes with commercial breaks. Dick Jones who played Dick West was in fact a good rider himself, he could match Jock Mahoney's stuntman background in many ways.
As a child actor you might remember him best for being the young Senate page who sported a Boy Ranger badge in the Senate and encouraged Jimmy Stewart to fight on. He was also the kid who died on the gold wagon train heading east in Virginia City. But it was a good thing he could ride and shoot because he was annoying. I guess the Range Rider put up with it as coming with the territory.
Jock Mahoney later went on to become Yancey Derringer and later on was one of Hollywood's Tarzans. He might not have had the physique of Johnny Weissmuller or Gordon Scott, but the man was athletic as all get out.
Thanks to Gene Autry for bringing us the Range Rider when I was a lad.
