death_date death_place birth_place birth_date spouse yearsactive image article_title name
9 march 1969 hollywood , california , u.s. new castle , indiana , u.s. 6 june 1918 merna ? -rrb- -lrb- 1 child -rrb- ellen pardee charlotte june becker -lrb- 1942 - 1940-1968 richard_crane . jpg richard crane -lrb- actor -rrb-
 richard crane
richard crane -lrb- actor -rrb-

richard crane -lrb- june 6 , 1918 -- march 9 , 1969 -rrb- was a veteran character actor whose career spanned three decades in films and television .
his early career included many uncredited performances in feature films made in the 1940s .
he is best remembered for his portrayal of the title role in the tv science fiction series `` rocky jones , space ranger '' , which ran for two seasons starting in 1954 .
of notable athletic ability , crane also appeared in the outer-space adventure serial '' '' in 1953 , as cody 's semi-comical sidekick , and was the hero of the 1951 serial based loosely on jules verne 's `` mysterious island '' .
he later made numerous appearances in many popular tv shows .
in 1958-1959 he made two guest appearances on `` perry mason '' : as george moore in `` the case of the lonely heiress , '' and dr. douglas keene in `` the case of the caretaker 's cat . ''
other television appearances included `` the lone ranger '' , `` death valley days '' , `` dragnet '' , `` lassie '' , `` the rifleman '' , and `` gang busters '' , in which he played gangster john dillinger 's associate homer van meter .
he died of a heart attack at the age of 50 .
he is buried in valhalla memorial park cemetery .
