LONE RANGER LOST HIS MASK 20 YEARS AGO MONDAY (AUG. 30)

LONE RANGER LOST HIS MASK 20 YEARS AGO MONDAY (AUG. 30)

LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- This Monday (Aug. 30) will mark a low point in TV history: it's the day the Lone Ranger was finally unmasked. On August 30, 1979, a judge ordered actor Clayton Moore -- who played the Lone Ranger on TV -- to stop wearing the famous black mask in public. Lone Ranger expert Anthony Tollin says Moore earned his living by appearing as the hero at fairs and other events until he was sued by the Ranger's owners, who were working on a Lone Ranger movie. Although Moore was prohibited from wearing the famous mask, the controversy made him even more in demand and he avoided breaking the court order by wearing wraparound sunglasses. Five years after the verdict, the folks who originally prevented him from wearing the Ranger mask quietly allowed him to put it back on again. These days, Moore is 84, lives in Los Angeles and is in good health but no longer makes public appearances.