Farewell to the lovely Lorna Gray, who died April 30 at age 99 — she left her stamp as Nyoka's villainous nemesis Vultura

Lorna Gray, aka Adrian Booth

As a contract player at Columbia early in her career and later as one of Republic Pictures' top stars, actress Lorna Gray was a regular on the Iverson Movie Ranch.

Lorna Gray with Kirk Alyn on the Lower Iverson in "Daughter of Don Q" (1946)

Gray racked up a string of screen credits, largely in serials and B-Westerns, from the late 1930s through the 1940s before retiring from acting in 1951. Born Virginia Pound, she worked for about a decade as Lorna Gray and then wound down her career under the stage name Adrian Booth.

Lorna Gray as Vultura in "Perils of Nyoka" (1942)

Gray made a big impact at Iverson as the villainous Vultura in the 1942 Republic serial "Perils of Nyoka," leaving behind an unusual legacy of rocks and other features on the movie ranch that now bear informal "Vultura-related" nicknames: Vultura's Pass, Vultura's Trail, Vultura's Trail Rock, Vultura's Stakeout, etc.

Vultura's Palace, as seen in "Perils of Nyoka"

I've posted before about Vultura's Palace, a "Perils of Nyoka" set built on the Lower Iverson. You can click here to see "then and now" shots of the area where the palace stood. The structure was a false front built onto high-profile rocks that remain in place today in a privately owned section of the former movie ranch.

"Daughter of Don Q" (1946): Lorna Gray in the North Cluster, on the Lower Iverson

Gray earned a reputation as an actress who was "good at being bad," and frequently wound up playing evil characters. But her versatile chops enabled her to break out of that mold from time to time, something she did with panache in the 1946 Republic serial "Daughter of Don Q."

Gray segues smoothly into the spotlight as the serial's heroine — and she is an action heroine in the purest sense. Much of the action in "Daughter of Don Q" takes place on the Iverson Movie Ranch.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games"

Gray's bow-and-arrow-wielding heroine was a forerunner to — and possibly inspiration for — later heroic female archers such as Katniss Everdeen of "The Hunger Games" ...

... and red-haired Merida of Disney/Pixar's 2012 animated feature "Brave."

Kirk Alyn and Lorna Gray in "Daughter of Don Q"

Gray stars with Kirk Alyn, who two years later would become the first Superman of the movies, starring in the 1948 Columbia serial "Superman" and the 1950 sequel "Atom Man vs. Superman."

This shot from behind the actors locks in where the scene takes place — it's just north of Garden of the Gods on the former Iverson Movie Ranch, with the well-known movie landmark Cleft Rock providing a positive ID.

This movie rock is still in place at Iverson, as you'll see below, and you can click here to see a post containing additional photos and other details about Cleft Rock.

Lorna Gray and Charles Starrett in "Bullets for Rustlers" (1940)

In her 20s Lorna Gray was a contract player at Columbia, starring opposite movie cowboy Charles Starrett in 1940 in "Bullets for Rustlers," filmed largely on the Iverson Ranch.

Gray wasn't afraid to mix it up with the boys, and got right in the middle of the action for this shootout among the rocks north of the Garden of the Gods in "Bullets for Rustlers."

 "Bullets for Rustlers" (1940)

This shot, another one taken north of Garden of the Gods, contains a number of noteworthy features.

Notice the large rock in front of Lorna Gray, with the major cleft pointed out.

Here's a photo of that same area from a recent visit to Iverson. The rock behind which Lorna Gray stood, with the major cleft, appears again here, on the right.

Monte Hale and Lorna Gray — billed here as Adrian Booth — in 1947

Other movies Lorna Gray — by this time working as Adrian Booth — shot at Iverson included a number of Republic Pictures' Monte Hale titles: "Home on the Range" (1946); "Out California Way" (1946), with Hale, Roy Rogers and a young Robert ("Bobby") Blake; "The Man From Rainbow Valley" (1946); "Under Colorado Skies" (1947); "Last Frontier Uprising" (1947); and "California Firebrand" (1948), to name a few.

Lorna Gray and Don Douglas in "Deadwood Dick"

Gray starred with Don Douglas in Columbia's 1940 serial "Deadwood Dick," another Iverson production, and worked the Iverson Ranch yet again in Republic's "The Gallant Legion" (1948), starring alongside Wild Bill Elliott.

The movies I've mentioned are just a sampling of Gray's Iverson Movie Ranch filmography — of her 69 film credits in the span of a career that lasted just 14 years, it's probably not a stretch to say that most of those movies were filmed on the Iverson Ranch.

Adrian Booth Brian in 2009

Lorna Gray, who later went by Adrian Booth Brian, was still going strong in 2014 when an early version of this blog post first ran. In her later years she still regularly made the rounds of movie conventions and other industry events.

Lorna Gray, Bad Girl of the Republic Serials — and the Katniss Everdeen of the 1940s

Lorna Gray, aka Adrian Booth

As a contract player at Columbia early in her career and later as one of Republic Pictures' top stars, actress Lorna Gray was a regular at the Iverson Movie Ranch. She racked up a string of screen credits in serials, B-Westerns and other productions from the late 1930s through the 1940s before retiring from acting back in 1951. Born Virginia Pound, she worked for about a decade as Lorna Gray and then wound down her career under the stage name Adrian Booth.

Lorna Gray as Vultura in "Perils of Nyoka" (1942)

Gray made what was probably her biggest impact at Iverson as the villainous Vultura in the 1942 Republic serial "Perils of Nyoka," leaving behind an unusual legacy of rocks and other features on the movie ranch that now bear informal "Vultura-related" nicknames: Vultura's Pass, Vultura's Trail, Vultura's Trail Rock, Vultura's Stakeout, etc.

Vultura's Palace, as seen in "Perils of Nyoka"

I've posted before about Vultura's Palace, which was a set for "Perils of Nyoka" that was built on the Lower Iverson. You can click here to see "then and now" shots of the area where the palace stood. The structure was a false front built on some high-profile rocks that remain in place in a privately owned section of the former movie ranch.

Lorna Gray takes aim in "Daughter of Don Q" (1946)

Gray earned a reputation as an actress who was "good at being bad," and frequently wound up playing villainous characters. But her versatile chops enabled her to break out of that mold from time to time, something she did with panache in the 1946 Republic serial "Daughter of Don Q."

Gray segues smoothly into the spotlight as the serial's heroine — and she is an action heroine in the purest sense. Much of the action in "Daughter of Don Q" takes place on the Iverson Movie Ranch, including all of the screen shots you see here from the production.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games"

Gray's bow-and-arrow-wielding heroine was a forerunner to — and possibly inspiration for — later heroic female archers such as Katniss Everdeen of "The Hunger Games" ...

... or red-haired Merida of Disney/Pixar's 2012 animated feature "Brave."

Kirk Alyn and Lorna Gray in "Daughter of Don Q"

Gray stars with Kirk Alyn in "Daughter of Don Q." Two years later Alyn would become the first Superman of the movies, starring in the 1948 Columbia serial "Superman" and later in the 1950 sequel "Atom Man vs. Superman."

This shot from behind the actors locks in where the scene takes place — it's in the North Cluster section of the former Iverson Movie Ranch, with the well-known movie landmark Cleft Rock providing a positive ID.

Here's a markup of the previous shot highlighting Cleft Rock. This movie rock is still in place at Iverson, as you'll see below, and you can click here to see a post containing additional photos and other details about Cleft Rock.

Lorna Gray and Charles Starrett in "Bullets for Rustlers" (1940)

In her 20s Lorna Gray was a contract player at Columbia, where she starred opposite movie cowboy Charles Starrett in 1940 in "Bullets for Rustlers," which shot much of its outdoor action at Iverson.

Gray wasn't afraid to mix it up with the boys, and got right in the middle of the action for this shootout among the rocks of Iverson's North Cluster in "Bullets for Rustlers."

 "Bullets for Rustlers" (1940)

Coincidentally, Gray shares the screen here too with Cleft Rock, as she would again later in "Daughter of Don Q," as noted above. This shot contains a number of features that are worth pointing out, which I'll do in the next photo.

This is the same shot from "Bullets for Rustlers," with a number of rock features highlighted — along with Lorna Gray. Notice the large rock in the center foreground, with the major cleft pointed out.

Here's a photo of that same area from a recent visit to Iverson. The rock with the major cleft appears again here, as I'll note in the photo below.

I found it intriguing that both Cleft Rock and a rock that appears to share a common geological ancestry with it — a sort of "melted down" version of Cleft Rock, with a similar "split muffin top" — would wind up in such close proximity to each other.

Another shot from that recent visit offers a better look at Cleft Rock, at top right, along with its geological next-of-kin in their current habitat. The "melted" version of Cleft Rock that fills up much of the left half of this photo is crying out for a name, and from a "scientific" standpoint, Melted Cleft Rock makes sense. So I'll go with that.

Monte Hale and Lorna Gray — billed here as Adrian Booth — in Republic's 1947 B-Western "Under Colorado Skies."

Other movies Lorna Gray — by this time working as Adrian Booth — shot at Iverson included a number of Republic Pictures' Monte Hale titles: "Home on the Range" (1946); "Out California Way" (1946), with Hale, Roy Rogers and a young Robert ("Bobby") Blake; "The Man From Rainbow Valley" (1946); "Under Colorado Skies" (1947); "Last Frontier Uprising" (1947); and "California Firebrand" (1948), to name a few.

Lorna Gray and Don Douglas in "Deadwood Dick"

Gray starred with Don Douglas in Columbia's 1940 serial "Deadwood Dick," another Iverson production, and worked the Iverson Ranch yet again in Republic's "The Gallant Legion" (1948), starring alongside Wild Bill Elliott.

The movies I've mentioned are just a sampling of Gray's Iverson Movie Ranch filmography — of her 69 film credits in the span of a career that lasted just 14 years, it's probably not a stretch to say that most of those movies were shot at Iverson.

Adrian Booth Brian in 2009

Lorna Gray, who now goes by Adrian Booth Brian, is still going strong at 96 and continues to make the rounds of movie conventions and other industry events.

Devil's Pass, Vultura's Pass and another look at everyone's favorite Wookiee from "Star Wars"

Chewbacca — rising above Devil's Pass (aka Vultura's Pass)

It's high time I update my blog entry from a few years ago on the Iverson rock I call Chewbacca.

Not everyone sees the resemblance between the rock and the beloved "Star Wars" Wookiee (often spelled Wookie), but it popped out at me the first time I saw the rock in person. Your mileage may vary, and I hope I get comments on whether readers see it or not.

"The Lone Ranger" TV show: episode "Devil's Pass" (1950)

The rock is located in a section of the former Lower Iverson I call Devil's Pass. The name comes from the title of an episode of the TV show "The Lone Ranger" that originally aired May 25, 1950. In the above screen shot from the episode "Devil's Pass," the Lone Ranger and Tonto are seen riding west through the pass.

Chewbacca is out of the picture, but would be up high on the right. Directly above Tonto's head is an often filmed rock known as Hangover Rock, which you may want to enlarge the photo (by clicking on it) to get a better look at. (You can find another shot of Hangover Rock at the bottom of this post.)

The same pass is also known as "Vultura's Pass," as it was the location of Vultura's Palace, seen above, in the seminal 1942 Republic serial "The Perils of Nyoka." The pass today remains on private property and is difficult to access other than looking at it over the brick wall that now separates this spot from the nearby condos. Some of the rocks in the above two shots are the same — you may be able to match up the rocks in the above photo that are just above the roof of the palace, near the center-top of the photo, with the same pair of rocks in the "Lone Ranger" shot, near the top-left corner. It's two rocks separated by a curved crack, and if I only had a dime for every time I've heard that expression.

Here's a shot of the evil Vultura, played by Adrian Booth — also known as Lorna Gray — posing for a publicity still for "The Perils of Nyoka" at the Iverson Movie Ranch, courtesy of Western movie expert Jerry England.

Another early shot of Lorna Gray/Adrian Booth, who apparently is still going strong at 95 — it wasn't that long ago, just a few years, that I went to an event in Hollywood to hear the longtime Republic Pictures star reminisce about the studio's Golden Age. Does she have stories!

"Buffalo Bill Rides Again" (1947)

Meanwhile, back at the Pass — Devil's or Vultura's — this is the view from a sniper's outpost up next to Chewbacca, looking west with the Upper Gorge in the background. The riders are entering the west end of the pass, arriving from the north, and will head roughly east. The screen shot comes from the Richard Arlen/Jennifer Holt B-Western "Buffalo Bill Rides Again."

Like most rocks, Chewbacca's appearance changes as it's viewed from different angles and in different light. Sadly, the thing has been hit with a little graffiti, something that has been a bit of a problem on the former Iverson Movie Ranch. It's most evident in the photo at the top of this post.

You might not think this prehistoric-looking thing is the same rock, but it is. Lighting makes a big difference, as illustrated by this shot of Chewie later in the day. Most of the character's "face" is in shade here.

This side of the rock reminds me of something out of the Broadway show "Cats."

There's that brick wall I mentioned, toward the right and down the hill. This is Devil's Pass in recent years, looking more or less southwest. On the other side of the wall are hundreds of condos.

Here's a better look at Hangover Rock, which is also seen in the third photo from the top, above. The precarious-looking feature marks the eastern end of Devil's Pass/Vultura's Pass. The African hut seen in this shot from the summer of 2008 was a set for the NBC TV series "Heroes." Partially visible in the background at the right is a non-movie house that was known as the "Old Folks' House," where Karl and Augusta Iverson, the founders of the Iverson Movie Ranch, lived in their later years. The house burned down just a few months after this photo was taken, in the 2008 Porter Ranch Fire.



NBC's series "Heroes" shot at Iverson for an Africa storyline that was a part of season three.