Earle Graser

Graser was born in the manufacturing city of Berlin (now known as Kitchener) in Waterloo County, Ontario, under the name Earl Walter Grasser.

[2] Berlin was a city notable for its contemporary German culture and heritage, and during the First World War, it was a focal point for anti-German sentiment in Canada.

He was an usher, doubling as the announcer for the next organ selection, and occasionally had small parts in live stage shows.

In 1932, Graser was hired as a bit player by dramatic productions director James Jewell of Detroit radio station WXYZ.

He listed his ambitions: own a farm in Connecticut, play Hamlet and teach elocution and drama at a small Eastern college.

Since this was during the days of live radio broadcasts, Graser had two understudies ready to play his part, but he never missed a performance.

The scripts were written so that the show could continue in his absence, with the Lone Ranger reappearing just in time to resolve the story.

Graser was required to restrict his radio acting to the role of the Lone Ranger and his identity was kept secret from the general public.

Graser and his wife were at a night club when a prize was offered for the person who could shout "Hi-Yo, Silver!"

Graser was under six foot, slightly chubby, did not know how to ride and only shot a pistol once in his life while Beemer "looked every inch the Wild West hero".

[5] On April 8, 1941, Graser was killed in Farmington, Michigan, when his car crashed into a parked truck trailer on Grand River Avenue in front of a Methodist church.

May we remember him with a hearty "HI Yo Silver Away"Beemer took over as the voice of The Lone Ranger from 1941 to the end of the series in 1955.

Most of Earle Graser's performances came before the use of transcription disks and modern audiences better remember his successor's in the role of the Lone Ranger.