Spacemens Luck

 

Where Tom Corbett, Captain Video, CMDR Corry and Other Spacemen Still Live

Actor Richard Crane Played Rocky Jones, Space Ranger

Space Travel Hero Role: Rocky Jones, Space Ranger

Played by Richard Crane, Rocky was the quintessential action hero – brave, strong, handsome, highly moral, and always ready to defend his beliefs with action. To the women of the stories he was irresistible, even to arch villainess Cleolanta, but there were no kisses or other physical displays.

The show was based on the exploits of the clean-cut, square-jawed Rocky Jones, the best known of the Space Rangers. The Space Rangers were Earth-based space policemen who patrolled the United Worlds of the Solar System in the not-too-distant future.

Rocky and his crew would routinely blast-off in a V-2 like chemically-fueled, upright rocketship, the Orbit Jet XV-2, or later the nearly identical Silver Moon XV-3, on missions to moons and planetoids where the odds of success seemed remote yet they would always prevail.

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger Cast:

– Rocky Jones: Richard Crane
– Winky: Scotty Beckett (October 4, 1929 – May 10, 1968)
– Vena Ray: Sally Mansfield (December 13, 1920 – January 28, 2001)
– Bobby: Robert Lyden
– Professor Newton: Maurice Cass (October 12, 1884 – June 8, 1954)
– Secretary Drake: Charles Meredith (August 27, 1894 – November 28, 1964)
– Cleolanthe: Patsy Parsons (June 9, 1931 – October 26, 2006)
– Biffen ‘Biff’ Cardoza: Jimmy Lydon (May 30 1923)
– Pinto Vortando: Ted Hecht (February 17 1908 – June 24 1969)

What Is Richard Crane Doing Today?:
Richard Crane was a veteran character actor whose career spanned three decades in films and television. His early career included many uncredited performances in feature films.

He is best remembered for his portrayal of the title role in the TV science fiction series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, which ran for two seasons starting in 1954. He also appeared in the outer-space adventure serial Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe in 1953, as Cody’s semi-comical sidekick.

Richard Crane was also the hero of the 1951 fifteen chapter serial based loosely on Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island. As in the original story, which was a follow-up to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, this serial is set in 1865. However, the serial has alien Mercurians as an additional set of villains and it has been labeled as a Space Opera version of the Verne novel.

Richard Crane died of a heart attack at the age of 50. He is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.

Major Sci-Fi Acting Roles
Television:
- Rocky Jones, Space Ranger – Rocky Jones (16 episodes, 1954)

Note: The below episodes were actually stories that were between one and three chapters in each episode.

– 1. Beyond the Curtain of Space (10 April 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 2. Escape into Space (1 May 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 3. The Pirates of Prah (8 May 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 4. Silver Needle in the Sky (29 May 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 5. Forbidden Moon (19 June 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 6. Crash of the Moons (10 July 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 7. Crash of Moons: Chapter II (17 July 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 8. Crash of Moons: Chapter III (24 July 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 9. Kip’s Private War (31 July 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 10. Blast-Off (14 August 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 11. Bobby’s Comet (28 August 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 12. Rocky’s Odyssey (26 September 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 13. The Cold Sun (17 October 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 14. Vena and the Darnamo (6 November 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 15. Out of This World (20 November 1954) – Rocky Jones
– 16. The Trial of Rocky Jones (11 December 1954) – Rocky Jones

- Men Into Space – Major Emery (1 TV episode), Asteroid (1959)

Movies/Serials:

- Mysterious Island (1951) – Capt. Cyrus Harding (15 chapters)
– 1. Lost in Space
– 2. Sinister Savages
– 3. Savage Justice
– 4. Wild Man at Large
– 5. Trail of the Mystery Man
– 6. The Pirates Attack
– 7. Menace of the Mercurians
– 8. Between Two Fires
– 9. Shrine of the Silver Bird
– 10. Fighting Fury
– 11. Desperate Chances
– 12. Mystery of the Mine
– 13. Jungle Deadfall
– 14. Men from Tomorrow
– 15. The Last of the Mysterious Island

- Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (appeared in 9 of 12 chapters)
– 1. Nightmare Typhoon (31 July 1955) – Dick Preston
– 2. War of the Space Giants (31 July 1955) – Dick Preston
– 3. Destroyers of the Sun (20 August 1955) – Dick Preston
– 4. Robot Monster from Mars (27 August 1955) – Dick Preston
– 5. The Hydrogen Hurricane (3 September 1955) – Dick Preston
– 6. Solar Sky Raiders (10 September 1955) – Dick Preston
– 7. S.O.S. Ice Age (17 September 1955) – Dick Preston
– 8. Lost in Outer Space (24 September 1955) – Dick Preston
– 9. Captives of the Zero Hour (8 October 1955) – Dick Preston

Date of Birth: 6 June 1918, Newcastle, Indiana

Date of Death: 9 March 1969, San Fernando Valley, California. (age 50)

List of Whatever Became Of Episodes: