Why was Clayton Moore removed for awhile as the Lone Ranger and replaced by John Hart?
We will probably never know. The rumor at the time was that Clayton Moore had demanded a salary increase and was fired by the owner of the Ranger property, George W. Trendle. However, Moore says in his autobiography that he didn’t make any such request and that it was clear that Trendle intended to replace him at least a year prior to the dismissal, since Trendle had ordered that the mask be made larger to cover more of Moore’s face. Moore says he was given no reason when he was fired. Nor was he given any reason when they asked him to return. Moore speculates that Trendle disliked the fact that his property was becoming more identified with Moore than with Trendle. Moore thinks that Trendle didn’t want any actor *being* the Lone Ranger in the public’s mind. Moore’s return to the show was just before the selling of the property to the Wrather Corporation. It’s possible that Trendle realized that Hart’s Ranger wasn’t as popular and thought the property would be worth more with Moore bac
