Monte Rawlins, born Dean Calvin Spencer (February 21, 1907 – July 13, 1988), also called Monte "Alamo" Rawlins, was a short-lived

western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

star of the late 1930s, often dubbed The Masked Phantom due to his better known role. The B-rated "Masked Phantom" role was his only starring role. In the late 1930s,

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

had been searching for a new face to be a new cowboy western star. They were having success with several, including

Ken Maynard Kenneth Olin Maynard (July 21, 1895 – March 23, 1973) was an American actor and producer. He was mostly active from the 1920s to the 1940s and considered one of the biggest Western (genre), Western stars in Hollywood. Maynard was also an occa ...

and

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott Sr. (born October 8, 1955), also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Superstar Racing Experienc ...

. Originally from

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

, Rawlins had made his way to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

by way of him being a barnstormer

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, starring in an

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

. He first worked doing aerial stunt work for films, and played two small bit roles in films, and was noticed by Columbia and approached for his own series. The series, titled '' Adventures of the Masked Phantom'', opened in 1939, with Rawlins in the lead role.Monte "Alamo" Rawlins
at b-westerns.com The series was to have a trio that travels, rescuing people as they go, overcoming troubles and dangers that they encounter along the way. Reviews were not bad, but indicated that veteran actors George Douglas, and Curley Dresden had saved the series. Rawlins' reviews were horrible—it would be his last acting role. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Rawlins joined the

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

, and served with distinction until the war's end. He remained in the US Marine Reserves, and was called up for active duty for the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

also. He remained in the Marine Reserves, and began working, upon his return from Korea, as a

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

for both

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. He retired from both Disney and the Marine Reserves, moving to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, where he later died of natural causes in 1988.

References

External links

* People from Yakima, Washington Male actors from Washington (state) American male film actors 1907 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American male actors {{US-film-actor-1900s-stub