4. The Lone Ranger Holds Network To Ransom
The Lone Ranger may have stood for truth, justice and all that was good but the actor who made him famous on television had much less noble things on his mind when it came to the role. According to legend Clayton Moore, who played the masked hero in over 167 episodes of the TV show, felt that it was in fact he who made the show what it was and not the actual character. Sure, of his drawing power Moore held the TV network to ransom refusing to appear in any more episodes until they increased his salary by an undetermined amount. Refusing to budge the network instead fired Moore and replaced him with John Hart (Happy Days, Dallas, Rawhide). The public were not impressed. In fact for 56 episodes viewing figures actually dropped with many fans writing to the producers at ABC to demand the return of Clayton Moore. Eventually when show creator George W. Trendle sold the rights to Jack Wrather (the man behind God awful dog series Lassie) Moore was rehired and continued to portray the Ranger until 1957. In his biography Moore disputes the claim that he ever asked for more money but instead cites creative differences as his reason for leaving the show.