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Related Reading
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 Signs
of Hope: In Praise of Ordinary Heroes
A celebration of individuals of humanity and integrity in
an increasingly impersonal and self-absorbed world. Several
years ago, Jon Wilson, editor of acclaimed WoodenBoat magazine,
decided he'd had enough of the constant barrage of violence
and misery in the media. His answer was the magazine Hope,
dedicated to stories by and about uncelebrated people who
make a positive difference in their communities and the world.
Signs of Hope gathers the best of that journal, and restores
our faith in the power of individual acts.
 Hollywood
Heroes
A complete guide to film and television adaptations of 30
heroic figures.
Women
of Valor (Real Lives Series)
Heroes
of the Range: Yesteryears Saturday Matinee Movie Cowboys
Heroes
and Villains: Movie Serial Classics
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Saving the World on Film
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Think Schwarzenegger
and Stallone
are the grandfathers of movie action? Think again. Sure, they
went in guns blazing, but not before other action heroes beat
them to the punch. These men were fighting the bad guys before
Arnold and Sly were but a twinkle in Daddy's eye.
The
Lone Ranger — With a jaunty "Hi Yo Silver,
Away!" Clayton
Moore rode off into the sunset on the 1950s TV screen.
Along with his friend Tonto,
the Lone Ranger always saved the day, leaving those he helped
to wonder, "Who was that masked man?" What started
as a local
radio show in 1933 became a TV series and a 1960s
cartoon.
Zorro
— This masked swordsman, aka Don
Diego de la Vega, rode the California hills fighting for
justice long before Anthony
Hopkins was born. Zorro was first a character in the 1919
serialized novel The
Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley. By 1920, Douglas
Fairbanks played him on screen in The
Mark of Zorro. Other actors to portray the masked avenger
include Tyrone
Power, Guy
Williams in the Walt Disney TV series, and George
Hamilton, in the comedy, Zorro,
the Gay Blade.
Robin
Hood — With his band of merry men, this legendary
archer, born in the 1100s, ripped off the rich to provide
for the poor. Throughout movie and TV history, this beloved
man of the forest has been seriously portrayed by leading
men like Errol
Flynn, Douglas
Fairbanks, Sean
Connery and Kevin
Costner. If you're looking for the lighter side of Robin
of Loxley, try catching Daffy
Duck on the Cartoon
Network or Carey
Elwes in Robin
Hood: Men in Tights.
Batman
— In 1939, he flew in as a comic book character created
by Bob
Kane, then, in 1943, he swooped on over to radio. In 1966,
Kapow!,
the caped crusader (Adam
West) hit the TV screen with his sidekick, Robin (Burt
Ward). By the early 1970s, they'd joined the Superfriends.
Then, in 1989, Batman made it to the movies, first starring
Michael
Keaton, then Val
Kilmer and George
Clooney.
Written by Iris Wolfe
Who's your favorite hero? E-mail
us!
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On the Web
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Media
Studies: Movie Heroes
About.com
Action Films
Female
Action Films
Movie
Heroes Poll
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Modern
Heroes
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Just a couple ladies' men out to save the
world...
James
Bond
— 007's got a Licence
to Kill and he's not afraid to use it. Bond began as a
character in the 1953 Ian
Fleming novel, Casino Royale. This secret agent, portrayed
by Sean
Connery, Roger
Moore, George
Lazenby, Timothy
Dalton, and Pierce
Brosnan, uses rocket-shooting
roadsters and explosive
toothpaste to get his man, but he'd rather spend his time
with the ladies.
Dirty
Harry
— Do
you feel lucky, punk? With his
.44 Magnum and a few loaded questions, Harry Callahan
sets his sights on the bad guys. Clint
Eastwood made this vigilante cop famous in five Dirty
Harry movies beginning in the early 1970s. In a reversal of
the norm, author Phillip
Rock novelized the movies, while Dane
Hartman wrote several books based on the movie character. |
