Glenn Klinton Spilsbury (born March 4, 1950) is an American former actor. His sole major acting credit is the film ''

The Legend of the Lone Ranger ''The Legend of the Lone Ranger'' is a 1981 American Western film that was directed by William A. Fraker and stars Klinton Spilsbury, Michael Horse and Christopher Lloyd. It is based on the story of The Lone Ranger, a Western character created ...

'' (1981), in which he played the title role.

Biography

Spilsbury, descended from Latter-Day Saint (LDS) settlers in Mexico, spent much of his childhood in Arizona, where his father was a high school and college football coach. The family eventually returned to Mexico, settling in Colonia Juárez. Spilsbury briefly attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

before moving to Hollywood to attempt to break into acting, and in 1979, using the name Max Keller, moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he landed minor parts on daytime

soap operas A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

. He already had appeared in two TV series in 1978 as Max Keller : '' Suddenly Love'' as a male student, and ''

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

'' as John Gilroy (1 episode).

''The Legend of the Lone Ranger''

Klinton Spilsbury's dialogue in ''The Legend of the Lone Ranger'' was dubbed by actor

James Keach James Keach (born December 7, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the younger brother of actor Stacy Keach Jr. and son of actor Stacy Keach Sr. Early life and education Keach was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Mary Cain () ...

. Considerable controversy surrounded Spilsbury at the time of the film's release, in part because of the studio's treatment of

Clayton Moore Clayton Moore (born Jack Carlton Moore, September 14, 1914 – December 28, 1999) was an American actor best known for playing the fictional western character the Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1952 and 1953 to 1957 on the television series of the sa ...

, star of the popular 1950s TV series, who was prevented through legal action from wearing his black mask during personal appearances. It was the only film Spilsbury made. For his performance in this film, Spilsbury received the 1981

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor The Razzie Award for Worst Actor is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actor of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film(s) for which they were nomi ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

interviewed Spilsbury during his promotion tour, later describing the interview as "nutty," because Spilsbury was "blowing his whole image" during their conversation. Spilsbury told Warhol that, before making the movie, he had been an art student married to a rich woman and that they had a baby together. He went on to state she had left him because he needed too much time with his own thoughts, a detail that Warhol found amusing. Spilsbury told Warhol that he was a friend of actor

Dennis Christopher Dennis Christopher (born Dennis Carrelli; December 2, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' Fade to Black'' (1980), ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981), '' It'' (1990) and ''Django Unchained'' (2012) ...

and had fallen in love with him, and that he also had later fallen in love with actor

Bud Cort Walter Edward Cox, known professionally as Bud Cort, is an American actor and comedian, known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's film ''Harold and Maude'' (1971) and the eponymous hero in Robert Altman's film ''Brewster McCloud'' (1970 ...

. Warhol described Spilsbury as "very drunk" during the latter part of the interview, and the latter also mentioned that "he'd been picked up by

Halston Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer who rose to international fame in the 1970s. His minimalist, clean designs, often made of cashmere or ultrasuede, were ...

and woke up in bed with Halston."

Post-''Ranger'' career

A 1989 article in the ''Los Angeles Times'' revealed that he had spent some time in Europe and was working as a model. He had hopes to revive his career as an actor, but admitted in the article that he was not having much luck. He has intermittently coached acting workshops at the Herpolscheimer Academy in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. In 2013, when the reboot film ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

'' starring

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

and

Armie Hammer Armand Douglas Hammer (born August 28, 1986) is an American actor. Hammer began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. His first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film '' Billy: The Early Years'', and ...

was released, Spilsbury was sought out by media sources but declined to comment. According to ''Variety'', Spilsbury was working as a photographer in Los Angeles at the time.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spilsbury, Klinton 1951 births Living people American male film actors American photographers Brigham Young University alumni Male models from Arizona Mexican emigrants to the United States People from Chihuahua City People from Flagstaff, Arizona