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Mason Alan Dinehart

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Years active
  
1948-1960

Name
  
Mason Dinehart


Role
  
Actor

Siblings
  
Alan Dinehart, Jr.

Mason Alan Dinehart claytonmooretripodcomtellta04jpg

Full Name
  
Mason Alan Dinehart, III

Born
  
April 30, 1936 (age 87) (
1936-04-30
)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Other names
  
Alan Dinehart, IIIMase Dinehart

Occupation
  
Former actor, businessman

Spouse
  
Barbara Blakely (m. 1958–1965), Evelyn Myers (m. 1954–1958)

Children
  
Scott Dinehart, Veronica Dinehart, Eleanor Dinehart

Parents
  
Mozelle Britton, Alan Dinehart

Movies
  
The Hot Angel, The Careless Years, Roadracers, Platinum High School

Similar People
  
Mozelle Britton, John Farrow, Arthur Hiller

Frontier Doctor | Season 1 | Episode 13 | Shotgun Hattie | Rex Allen | Mason Alan Dinehart


Mason Alan Dinehart (born April 30, 1936), also known as Mason Alan Dinehart III, Alan Dinehart III, or Mase Dinehart, is an American businessman and former actor best known for his role as a youthful Bat Masterson in thirty-four episodes between 1955 and 1959 of the ABC/Desilu television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brian in the title role of the frontier marshal Wyatt Earp.

Contents

Family background

Mason Alan Dinehart - IMDb

The Hollywood-born Dinehart was the only son of the actor Alan Dinehart and Dinehart's second wife, actress and journalist Mozelle Britton. In 1936, Alan Dinehart legally changed his name to Mason Alan Dinehart, the same name as his father, so that his younger son from the second marriage could be known as Mason Alan Dinehart III. This name change created confusion because the senior Dinehart's first son from his first marriage was already Alan Dinehart, Jr. (1918–1992), the former animation and voice director for Hanna-Barbera.

Mason Alan Dinehart is the father of eight children from three marriages. He has two children each from his first and second marriages to Evelyn Myers (1954-1958) and Barbara Blakely (1958-1965), respectively. In 1982, he married for the third time; he and the former Miranda Gazal have four children. One of his children, Scott Dinehart, died in 2010 of an emergency hip operation.

Bat Masterson

Dinehart played the youthful Bat Masterson who is the understudy of Wyatt Earp in learning the proper techniques of frontier law enforcement. Earp rarely calls him "Bat" but "Mr. Masterson" to teach the young man maturity. In a 1956 episode "Bat Masterson Again," Earp shows young Masterson on the proper use of a pistol. During this time Masterson was elected sheriff of Ford County, Kansas, which includes the county seat of Dodge City. Bill Tilghman had been denied the right to run for sheriff again. Earp as an appointed town marshal works with an elected sheriff, and their differences in jurisdiction do not cause any problems. Bat's brother, Ed Masterson, played by Brad Johnson, formerly the deputy sheriff on the Annie Oakley television series, is shot in an ambush by drunken cowboys, and Masterson settles the score. When Earp finally comes to Tombstone, Arizona Territory, he lacks the working relationship with Sheriff Johnny Behan that he had in Kansas with Bat Masterson.

Dinehart's performance of Masterson was so highly regarded that ABC offered him a spinoff series, but he declined, soon left acting, and entered the business field. Dinehart's last appearance on the series is the episode "Dodge Is Civilized" (April 28, 1959), in which he serves notice that he is headed to Tombstone, where he hopes Earp will join him in time. There is never a reunion show, and the Masterson character, now a gambler, is written out of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. The historical Earp did visit Tombstone to see his friend Masterson, who in time became a figure of western folklore, finishing his long career as a sportswriter in New York City. Masterson's hat inspired the name of the Brown Derby restaurants in Los Angeles.

By the time Dinehart left The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Gene Barry had already assumed for nearly a year the role of a more mature Masterson, one in his early forties, in the NBC western series Bat Masterson. Some viewers complained of the change in actors portraying Bat Masterson, but in time Barry was the one most remembered for the role, not Dinehart, who left show business.

Other acting roles

Dinehart's first acting role was uncredited as "Superman" at the age of twelve in the 1948 film Superman. Thereafter, he had uncredited roles as a teenager in other films. In 1954, he was cast as Ted Miller in the episode "Hot Rod" of the CBS legal drama series The Public Defender. In 1956, he played Clint Donoran in the episode "Outlaw's Son" of the syndicated television series Judge Roy Bean, starring Edgar Buchanan in the title role. In 1957, he was cast as Danny Martin in the episode "Typhoid" of another syndicated series Dr. Christian, starring MacDonald Carey.

Dinehart appeared in two 1957 military drama series, as Marly in the episode "Joe Foss, Devilbird" of Navy Log. This episode is based on a real person, Joe Foss, a World War II Medal of Honor recipient who later became the governor of South Dakota and a prominent sportsman. In 1957 and 1958, Dinehart played Joe Marrison in two episodes, "Seawall" and "The Boxing Lesson," of the syndicated series, Men of Annapolis.

In 1957 and 1958, he played in two youth films, as Bob Williams in The Careless Years and Joe Wilson in the The Hot Angel. Other Dinehart appearances were on Sky King as Jimmy Ness in "Frogmen" and as Tex Fallon in "The Unwanted" on 26 Men. He played the character Greg in "Half a Loaf" on the syndicated western anthology series Death Valley Days, hosted in 1959 by Stanley Andrews. This role united Dinehart with western actor Bob Steele in the role of Dawson; Steele had appeared as Deputy Sam in four episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

Dinehart was cast in two episodes, "The Homesteaders" and "The Twisted Road," of the syndicated western series Frontier Doctor, starring Rex Allen. He played Don Carter in the 1959 episode "Millionaire Sally Simms" opposite Venetia Stevenson on the CBS fantasy drama The Millionaire. In 1959, he was cast as Danny Holden in the episode "Love on the Rocks", with Virginia Christine as Rena Desmond, on the syndicated crime drama State Trooper, with Rod Cameron as the fictitious officer Rod Blake of the Nevada State Police. Dinehart also played a comedy role as "Bill Masterson" in the 1957 episode "The General" of the CBS series The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, with George Burns and Gracie Allen.

Dinehart's last roles were in 1959 and 1960, including three appearances on the CBS series The Texan, starring Rory Calhoun. Twice he played "The Brazos Kid". Dinehart played Todd Kenyon in the episode "The Swindle" of the 11-episode NBC crime drama 21 Beacon Street, a summer-replacement series starring Dennis Morgan, Joanna Barnes, and Brian Kelly. Dinehart's last screen appearance was as Bob Treadwell in the 1960 film Platinum High School.

Dinehart's business career began c. 1960 with the Bank of America. He is now a consultant in litigation and arbitration for FEND, a company based in Los Angeles but works at times in any one of twenty-two states.

Filmography

Actor
1960
Platinum High School as
Bob Treadwell
1959
The Texan (TV Series) as
Brazos Kid / Chet Dawson
- Sixgun Street (1960) - Brazos Kid
- The Taming of Rio Nada (1960) - Brazos Kid
- The Duchess of Denver (1959) - Chet Dawson
1959
Flight (TV Series)
- The Chaplin Story (1959)
- Skyfighters
- Three Men
- Survival
1959
Cast a Long Shadow as
Dick Calvert (uncredited)
1959
21 Beacon Street (TV Series) as
Todd Kenyon
- The Swindle (1959) - Todd Kenyon
1959
State Trooper (TV Series) as
Danny Holden
- Love on the Rocks (1959) - Danny Holden
1955
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (TV Series) as
Bat Masterson
- Dodge Is Civilized (1959) - Bat Masterson
- She Almost Married Wyatt (1959) - Bat Masterson
- Bat Jumps the Reservation (1959) - Bat Masterson
- Last Stand at Smoky Hill (1959) - Bat Masterson
- Four (1958) - Bat Masterson
- Three (1958) - Bat Masterson
- Two (1958) - Bat Masterson
- One (1958) - Bat Masterson
- It Had to Happen (1958) - Bat Masterson
- Big Brother Virgil (1958) - Bat Masterson
- Ballad and Truth (1958) - Bat Masterson
- Wyatt Fights (1958) - Bat Masterson
- Wyatt Earp Rides Shotgun (1958) - Bat Masterson
- The Kansas Lily (1958) - Bat Masterson
- The Manly Art (1958) - Bat Masterson
- Shadow of a Man (1957) - Bat Masterson (uncredited)
- Woman Trouble (1957) - Bat Masterson
- The Time for All Good Men (1957) - Bat Masterson
- Dull Knife Strikes for Freedom (1957) - Bat Masterson
- Beautiful Friendship (1957) - Bat Masterson
- The Nice Ones Always Die First (1957) - Bat Masterson
- Hang 'Em High (1957) - Bat Masterson
- Bat Masterson for Sheriff (1957) - Bat Masterson
- They Hired Some Guns (1957) - Bat Masterson
- Siege at Little Alamo (1957) - Bat Masterson
- The Sharpshooter (1957) - Bat Masterson
- The Man Who Rode with Custer (1957) - Bat Masterson
- Shootin' Woman (1957) - Bat Masterson
- Justice (1956) - Bat Masterson
- The Hanging Judge (1956) - Bat Masterson
- Nineteen Notches on His Gun (1956) - Bat Masterson
- Take Back Your Town (1956) - Bat Masterson
- The Lonesomest Man in the World (1956) - Bat Masterson
- Bat Masterson Wins His Star (1956) - Bat Masterson
- Bat Masterson Again (1956) - Bat Masterson (as Alan Dinehart III)
- Marshal Earp Meets General Lee (1955) - Bat Masterson (as Mason Alan Dinehart III)
- Bill Thompson Gives In (1955) - Bat Masterson (as Mason Alan Dinehart III)
- Mr. Earp Meets a Lady (1955) - Bat Masterson (as Mason Alan Dinehart III)
- Wyatt Earp Becomes a Marshal (1955) - Bat Masterson (as Mason Alan Dinehart III)
1959
Death Valley Days (TV Series) as
Greg
- Half a Loaf (1959) - Greg
1959
Frontier Doctor (TV Series) as
Miller / Lonny Davis / Ben Adams
- The Twisted Road (1959) - Miller
- The Homesteaders (1959) - Lonny Davis
- The Woman Who Dared (1959) - Ben Adams
1959
The Millionaire (TV Series) as
Don Carter
- Millionaire Sally Simms (1959) - Don Carter (uncredited)
1958
26 Men (TV Series) as
Tex Fallon / Ernie Evans
- The Unwanted (1959) - Tex Fallon
- Killers Trail (1958) - Ernie Evans (as Mason Alan Dinehart III)
1959
Roadracers as
Kit
1959
Sky King (TV Series) as
Jimmy Ness
- Frog Man (1959) - Jimmy Ness
1957
Men of Annapolis (TV Series) as
Joe Marrison / John / Midshipman / ...
- Boxing Lesson (1958) - Joe Marrison (as Alan Dinehart)
- Reflex Action (1957) - John
- Obstacle Course (1957) - Midshipman
- Crucial Moment (1957) - Cullen
- Seawall (1957) - Joe Marrison
1958
The Hot Angel as
Joe Wilson (as Alan Dinehart III)
1957
Dr. Christian (TV Series) as
Danny Martin
- Typhoid (1957) - Danny Martin
1957
Navy Log (TV Series) as
Marly
- Joe Foss, Devilbird (1957) - Marly
1957
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (TV Series) as
Bill Masterson
- The General (1957) - Bill Masterson
1957
Jet Pilot as
Fresh Kid at Palm Springs Dress Shop (uncredited)
1957
The Careless Years as
Bob Williams (as Alan Dinehart III)
1957
Cavalcade of America (TV Series) as
Dick
- Leap to Heaven (1957) - Dick (as Alan Dinehart III)
1956
Judge Roy Bean (TV Series) as
Clint Donoran
- Outlaw's Son (1956) - Clint Donoran (as Alan Dinehart III)
1956
The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu (TV Series) as
George
- The Assassins of Dr. Fu Manchu (1956) - George (as Alan Dinehart III)
1956
Studio 57 (TV Series)
- The Baxter Boy (1956) - (as Alan Dinehart III)
1955
The Lone Ranger (TV Series) as
Howard Doyle
- The Tell-Tale Bullet (1955) - Howard Doyle (as Alan Dinehart III)
1955
Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) as
Joey
- The Copperhead (1955) - Joey (as Alan Dinehart III)
1954
Meet Corliss Archer (TV Series) as
Buster
- A Date for Doris - Buster (as Alan Dinehart III)
1954
Public Defender (TV Series) as
Ted Miller
- Hot Rod (1954) - Ted Miller (as Alan Dinehart III)
1953
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (TV Series) as
Will Thornberry II
- Basketball Players (1953) - Will Thornberry II
1951
Apache Drums as
Child (uncredited)
1951
Follow the Sun as
Boy (uncredited)
1950
Never a Dull Moment as
Sonny Boy (uncredited)
1950
The Happy Years as
Coffee Colored Angel (as Alan Dinehart III)
1950
Copper Canyon as
Youngest Bassett Boy (uncredited)
1949
Easy Living as
Urchin (uncredited)
1949
Blondie's Big Deal as
Rollo (as Alan Dinehart III)
1949
The Sun Comes Up as
Orphan (uncredited)
1948
Superman as
Young Clark Kent (uncredited)

References

Mason Alan Dinehart Wikipedia