Lon Chaney, Jr.

Lon Chaney Jr.
Chaney in early 1950s
Born	Creighton Tull Chaney (1906-02-10)February 10, 1906 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory, U.S.
Died	July 12, 1973(1973-07-12) (aged 67) San Clemente, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Heart failure
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1931–1971
Spouse(s)	Dorothy Hinckley (m. 1928–1937; divorced; 2 children) Patsy Beck (m. 1937–1973; his death)
Children	Lon Ralph Chaney (1928–1992) Ronald Creighton Chaney (1930–1987)

Creighton Tull Chaney (February 10, 1906–July 12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the 1941 film The Wolf Man and its various crossovers, and Count Alucard (son of Dracula) in numerous horror films produced by Universal Studios. He also portrayed Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men (1939). Originally referenced in films as Creighton Chaney, he was later credited as "Lon Chaney Jr." in 1935, and after 1941's Man Made Monster, beginning as early as The Wolf Man later that same year, he was almost always billed under his more famous father's name as Lon Chaney. Chaney had English, French, and Irish ancestry, and his career in movies and television spanned four decades, from 1931 to 1971.

Creighton was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory, the son of silent film star Lon Chaney and Frances Cleveland Creighton Chaney, a singing stage performer who traveled in road shows across the country with Creighton. His parents' troubled marriage ended in divorce in 1913 following his mother's scandalous public suicide attempt in Los Angeles. Young Creighton lived in various homes and boarding schools until 1916, when his father (now employed in the film industry) married Hazel Hastings and could provide a stable home.

From an early age, he worked hard to get out of his famous father's shadow. In young adulthood, his father discouraged him from show business, and he attended business college and became successful in a Los Angeles appliance corporation. Creighton, who had begun working for a plumbing company, married Dorothy Hinckley the daughter of his employer Ralph Hinckley, and they had two sons: Lon Ralph Chaney and Ronald Creighton Chaney. But Creighton's life changed forever when his father was diagnosed with throat cancer and died on August 26, 1930 at the age of 47. Many articles and biographies over the years report that Creighton was led to believe his mother had died while he was a boy, and was only made aware she lived after his father's death. Creighton always maintained he had a tough childhood.