Press & broadcasting / Film & TV / Theatre & dance
John Todd
1876–1957 · radio and stage actor
Veteran Shakespearean stage actor who voiced Tonto on WXYZ's The Lone Ranger from February 1933 to the final broadcast in 1954, and died in Detroit.
- Born
Erie, Pennsylvania- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 80- Birth name
- John Frederick McCarthy
- Detroit years
- 1930s–1957
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Born Fred McCarthy in Erie, Pennsylvania, Todd spent decades in stock companies, including five years with Minneapolis's Bainbridge Players, and appeared on Broadway before turning to directing. Known for Shakespeare, he joined director James Jewell's repertory company at Detroit's WXYZ, which voiced all of the station's dramas. After playing a local sheriff in early Lone Ranger episodes, he first spoke as Tonto, the masked man's Native American companion, on the twelfth broadcast, on February 25, 1933. Apart from a brief period when station owner George Trendle tried a younger Native American actor, who refused to read the pidgin dialogue, Todd kept the role for the entire run and was the only original cast member heard on the final broadcast on September 3, 1954. A bald, stocky man of Irish descent, he was replaced at public appearances. He also played Dan Reid on The Green Hornet and Inspector Conrad on Challenge of the Yukon. He died at Henry Ford Hospital in 1957.
Highlights
- Voice of Tonto on The Lone Ranger from February 25, 1933, to September 3, 1954
- Only original cast member heard on the show's final broadcast
- Member of James Jewell's WXYZ repertory company
- Also played Dan Reid on The Green Hornet and Inspector Conrad on Challenge of the Yukon
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1933–1954
Maccabees Building (former WXYZ studios)
WXYZ's studios, where Todd performed Tonto live for more than twenty years.
Related place · 1957
Henry Ford Hospital
The New Center hospital where Todd died in 1957.