Lon Chaney Sr. the fabled man of a thousand faces and his son the legendary Lon Chaney Jr. who brought to life some of the most quintessential screen monsters in cinematic history, live on at Chaney Entertainment. Its president, a prolific actor/writer and producer in his own right…Great grandson and grandson of these silver scream idols, Ron Chaney keeps their legacy alive with a whole host of different projects.
It was at the Phoenix Arizona, Mad Monster Party a few years ago that Ron, donned a top hat, cape and fangs to recreate his great grandfather’s iconic vampire from the infamous lost to time; London After Midnight. Offering fans of classic horror an unmissable photo-op and now he is set to do it again.
We asked Ron if he would be interested in bringing to life one of his great grandfather’s most recognizable creations and arguably one of the most identifiable monsters in cinematic history, Lon Chaney’s phantom from Phantom Of The Opera (1925). Still to this day, a stunning example of practical SFX make-up, made all the more impressive knowing that the design and application was all done by Chaney himself.
Ron told FM,
“I have a Phantom suit that I had custom made and in order to do this I needed a makeup artist so I contacted Tom (Savini) and he introduced me to his business partner, Jason Baker at Callosum Studios. I had my head scanned for another project I am working on, so I sent that to Jason, he printed it out. He is making the prosthetic pieces and attaching them to my head so it’s going to look really good. I’m also working on some backgrounds from Phantom that I have picked out and we are going to have a lot of fun with it”
When asked about what it is that still resonates to this day about his great grandfather’s work Ron said, “I think the emotion he brought to his characters prevails through time it was the pathos he brought to his roles that endeared people. And I would have to say the same for my grandfather. With his Wolf Man role, people connected to him, he wasn’t a bad guy but he did bad things. They both have pretty incredible legacies that have been cemented in cinematic history”.
An unmissable opportunity for all fans of horror cinema get your tickets now for this one of a kind unique photo-op with Ron Chaney at Famous Monsters Festival.