Just Tony, 1922 with Duke Lee

Just Tony, 1922:

Tony the Horse

Tom Mix ... Jim Perris

J.P. Lockney ... Oliver Jordan

Claire Adams ... Marianne Jordan

Frank Campeau ... Lew Hervey

Duke R. Lee ... Manuel Cordova (as Duke Lee)

Walt Robbins ... Shorty (uncredited)

Tom Mix Movie: "Son of the Golden West" with Duke Lee

"Son of The Golden West" 1928 silent film

Directed by Eugene Forde. Cast: Tom Mix, Sharon Lynn, Thomas G. Lingham, Duke R. Lee, Fritzi Ridgeway, and Tony the Horse

Novel: Tom Mix Died For Your Sins

I bought this book years ago at a second hand bookstore because of the title. I have yet to read it, and it's been a long time since I looked at it. I noticed it on the shelf the other day, and just noticed that the author, Darryl Ponicsan, also wrote The Last Detail and Cinderella Liberty.

It's a novel, with Tom Mix as a character -- a what if kind of tale. The book has a few photographs of Mix.

My uncle, Duke Lee (son of Duke R. Lee) is named in the book's acknowledgements.

Tamara Shayne

Tamara Shayne, great uncle's

Wikipedia entry on Tamara Shayne. Tamara was my great uncle's daughter. She was married to Akim Tamiroff. Tamara was an actress, appearing in films and on Broadway. My mother lived with them for a short time when she first came to Los Angeles in the late 1940's.

Wikipedia Entry: Duke R. Lee

Wikipedia's brief bio and filmography on my paternal grandfather Duke R. Lee:
Duke R. Lee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Esoteric Claims to Fame, Or: My Cousin Was a MIB

Reposted from my Trickster's Realm column for Binnall of America, September 2010



Esoteric Claims to Fame, Or: My Cousin Was a MIB

An item on Lon Sticker’s Phantoms and Monsters about Elvis and his life long interest in UFOs inspired me to write about the time I met Elvis in Los Angles when I was working at the Free Clinic. (see my post on UFO Mystic.) That was one of my brushes with fame, and esoteric in a round about way, since Elvis had a strong curiosity about UFOs and believed in extraterrestrial life. Another esoteric brush with fame is, I think, waaaaaaaay cool. It concerns Boris Badenov. Yes, that Boris Badenov! Legend has it that the character actor Akim Tarmioff was the inspiration for the spy character Boris Badenov of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Here is what a Wikipedia entry has to say about Akim’s inspiration: Badenov's name is a play on that of the 16th-century Russian Tsar Boris Godunov ("bad enough" vs. "good enough"). His accent and explosive temper are an homage to Hollywood actor Akim Tamiroff, especially Tamiroff's role in The Great McGinty, a 1940 movie directed by Preston Sturges. Akim (Mikhailovich) Tamiroff, the Russian born character actor who appeared in dozens of films and television shows was often typecast as a Mexican or Greek, among other ethnic characters. He played spies, cops, thieves; all manner of roles. Among the films Akim appeared in:For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1943, Lord Jim, 1965, Oceans 11, 1960, Topaki, 1964, and dozens more. Akim was married to my grandfather’s niece, actress Tamara Shayne. My mother lived with them when she was in her late teens (that would be in late 1940s, early 1950s) when she first arrived in Los Angeles from Oregon. I met them once when I was little; I remember Tamara as being stand offish , but Akim was pretty nice, very funny and playful. Truly, how cool is it that one of the iconic cartoon characters, Boris Badenov, was based on a family member? (Another fun esoteric synchronistic fact: my mother’s name is a variation of Natasha.) Is it fair to say Boris was a MIB? No, it just sounded good for the title. Boris was short, fat, and hardly MIB like in behavior or appearance. He was an Eastern European/Russian spy, bumbling, the bad guy, created during the Cold War, when the spy business was everywhere. It still is; and actually, we’ve come back around to Russian spies recently, with movies like SALT and the plethora of Russian spies on television shows. I have other claims to esoteric fame, which I'll write about in future columns.

Duke Regine Lee

My grandfather (my father's father) was Duke Regine Lee. Actor, stuntman, carny, cowpuncher... a colorful life. He worked as an assistant director on many films, including working with John Ford on several of his films. He appeared in Stagecoach among other films. Wikipedia has a flimography.

Duke R. Lee, my grandfather. Born May 12, 1881, died 1959

Duke appeared in many westerns but he was also a song and dance and ladies man

Character Actor Akim Tamiroff

Character actor Akim Tamiroff was my married to my mother's aunt, the actress Tamara Shayne. My mother lived with them for awhile when she first came to Los Angeles in her late teens or early twenties.

I met Akim a couple of times when I was little; probably around five or six. I remember him as being very nice, funny and warm. My mother had many stories about Akim and how nice he was to her.

Some links about Akim's bio and filmography:
Internet Movie Database
Best Supporting Actor of 1936 – Akim Tamiroff (The General Died at Dawn) on Movie Over Matter

Akim Tamiroff Actor Images, on Mitra Celebrities