Greetings!

We hope you have enjoyed our web-site these past several months and hope you have learned more about the Chaney family. This issue's feature film will be "The Wolf Man," which was my grandfather's most famous and favorite film role. In this film he portrays dual roles, one as the tragic Larry Talbot and the other as the ferocious Wolf Man.

Also new to lonchaney.com is the launching of our on-line store. We have worked very hard to make your shopping experience enjoyable. A wide variety of products are offered with several ways to order, including a secure on-line order form to protect your personal financial information, direct mail, and fax. We are proud and excited to offer our own exclusive line of products developed directly from the Chaney family archives.

Keep a look out for the many products Chaney Entertainment has been licensing with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group, featuring merchandise from Sideshow Toy, Action Performance, Creation Entertainment, Giant Merchandise, Westland Giftware and others. We look forward to servicing all of your requests and becoming #1 in customer satisfaction. All store products have been created from images portrayed by Lon Chaney and Lon Chaney, Jr. in film. We'll be adding new items regularly as we continue to stock the store. Hopefully, this will be the only stop you'll ever need to make again for Chaney related goods at the most competitive prices.

Action Performance Companies, Inc. and Universal Studios Consumer Products Group with Chaney Entertainment, Inc. united with stars from several different racing series to drive vehicles which featured Lon Chaney, Jr.'s image as "The Wolf Man," "The Mummy," and Frankenstein's Monster from "Ghost of Frankenstein." Enlisted were drivers from NASCAR's Winston Cup and Busch circuits and the NHRA in a "Monsters of the Speedway" program

I had a wonderful experience at the race and met both Bobby Labonte and Robby Gordon. The Wolf Man car, driven by Robby Gordon, didn't fare as well when he crashed into the wall after the 184th lap, but as you know, you can't keep a good monster down for long. Hopefully he'll get another shot next year. Both vehicles competed hard and looked fantastic throughout the race while circling the track at top speeds close to 200mph.

The John Force/Castrol GTX Funny Car also had my grandfather's image as Frankenstein applied to his Ford Mustang and won the O'Reilly Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. For the third straight year, Team Force won with a dominating performance that included the events quickest time (4.862) and the fastest speed (312.28-mph) recorded against teammate Tony Pedragon driving the Dracula Funny car in the semifinals. What a wonderful group of people to be associated with and the fans of these motor sports are as avid and loyal to their favorite drivers as any Monster fans are to their favorite actor.

NASCAR Busch Grand National Series: In the Sam' Town 250 Oct. 29 at Memphis Motorsports Park, Randy Lajoie in the Bob Evans/Chevrolet Wolf Man Car finished in 4th place. Casey Atwood in the Castrol/Chevrolet Frankenstein Car came in 6th and Jason Leffler in the MBNA/Pontiac Mummy Car came in 16th place. These cars looked great and have been created in die cast replicas and no doubt will become great collectibles for all fans. Look for them in the store under the Monsters of the Speedway category!!!

I know my grandfather would be very proud to be a part of this "Monsters of the Speedway" program and associated with NASCAR's Winston Cup and Busch circuits and the NHRA. He enjoyed racing and sponsored a racing boat at one time.

Special thanks to Elliot Lederman, Dawn Silleman, Analissa Trinidad of Universal Studios Consumer Products Group, Lani Tillar of Action Performance and Kelly Antonelli of John Force Racing Team for allowing me the opportunity to attend such memorable events.

Documentary Premier

Lon Chaney A Thousand Faces documentary produced for Turner Classic Movies by Photoplay Productions premiered October 24, 2000 on Turner Classic Movies. This documentary was followed by a week long Chaney film festival. The documentary focused on the incredible life and career of my great-grandfather, Lon Chaney "The Man of a Thousand Faces" and the impact he had on generations of fans and artists. There were some terrific interviews from many notables in the industry who were touched by this unique man and his accomplishments. The show went way beyond his horror characters, revealing a complex, private and compassionate human being.

Kevin Brownlow and Patrick Stanbury of Photoplay Productions did an excellent job producing this documentary and the film clips, interviews, and rare footage shown during the documentary were a special treat.

The show also included an interview with my grandfather as he tells a story about his experience as a youth with his father, Lon Chaney. While watching this interview, I was reminded of how animated Gramps was while telling stories and how much fun it was to be with him. These clips reflect his true persona and go to show why I always looked forward to our visits.

Past Events

Monster Rally 1999 was definitely a memorable time for me personally as I returned to the Hyatt Crystal City, Virginia. It was the same site of the Famous Monsters of Filmland Convention in 1993 where I met so many wonderful fans of my grandfathers along with Sara Karloff Sparkman, Bela Lugosi, Jr., Dwight Frye, Jr. and many others. The fans again were great and Monster Rally '99' paid wonderful tributes to both Classic Horror icons and Hammer Film stars.

Gary and Sue Svehla treated their guests extraordinarily and put together a show second to none. The guest of honor was Christopher Lee. I spoke with him briefly about both of my grandfathers and his comments were some I will never forget. He mentioned how great Lon Chaney, Jr. was in "Of Mice and Men" and how terribly underrated he was as an actor. Mr. Lee also commented in his echoing powerful voice "LON CHANEY… HE… he was the MASTER". That statement and delivery gave me chills!

Gary and Sue had their guests presented with the first Carl Laemmle award sculpted by "Master Sculptor" Henry Alvarez. I was very proud to be representing my grandfathers and the Chaney family. Fred Olen Ray presented the Leammle award to me and made many gracious comments about the Chaneys.

He later offered me a part in an upcoming film that he was producing and directing titled "Hour of Valor" which was to be shown on HBO. He didn't need to ask twice and within two weeks, I was earning my first screen credit. What a great experience! I learned a tremendous amount about the film industry and will always be grateful to Fred for giving me the opportunity.

Whether I ever appear again remains to be seen, but it was special for me to conclude the century with a third generation credit in film and officially finish out "A Century of Chaneys".

Recent Events

The weekend event rounded off with Kevin Slick performing his own original score on organ accompanying the screening of "The Phantom of the Opera". Both Ron Chamberlain and Kevin Slick's dedication to the works of my grandfathers are very much appreciated and I applaud both of these talented artists for their efforts.

I had the opportunity to spend time with the gracious Beverly Garland (The Alligator People) and always amusing Ben Chapman (The Creature from the Black Lagoon). Bob Burns, Robert Tinnell, Dan Roebuck, Chuck Williams, Frank Dietz and Cortlandt Hull were also in attendance and all had a great time!