Background
Beemer was the son of Joseph D. Beemer.
Beemer was the son of Joseph D. Beemer.
He attended high school in Vincennes, Indiana, leaving school to enlist in the military.
When he was 14, Beemer misrepresented his age to participate in World War I. He served with "Battery East, 150th field artillery, and wounded in action in France May 27," 1918. He was said to be the youngest sergeant in that war. Born in Mount Carmel, Illinois, Beemer was six foot, three inches tall and was an expert horse rider.
He served as the deep-voiced announcer for soon after its first broadcast in 1933.
Beemer also appeared as the Ranger in public appearances because station owner George Trendle felt that Earle Graser, the actor who played the part on the radio, did not look right for the part. The son of WXYZ staffer Erskine Campbell recalled:
On April 8, 1941, Graser was killed in a car accident, and Beemer took over as the voice of from 1941 to the last new episode on September 3, 1954.
During the 13 years that Beemer played the title character, he was required by contract to restrict his radio acting to that one role until the program left the air. The experienced and popular Western film actor, Clayton Moore, was chosen to take over the role for the television series.
Although Beemer had the right voice and had made many public appearances as the Ranger, he had no experience as a film actor, as he preferred live action to television
However, Beemer"s voice as the character was so familiar that Moore imitated his sound in the earliest television episodes. Beemer also portrayed "Sergeant William Preston" of the Yukon on Challenge of the Yukon, for a brief time after the Lone Ranger series ended. Going by the name of Justice "Cowboy" Colt, Beemer"s son hosted cowboy films for children on local television in Detroit in the 1950s.
One of Beemer"s last television appearances, was an interview with former film actor, Bill Kennedy on his "At the Movies" show on CKLW television 9 from Windsor, Ontario., Canada.
Beemer resided in Lake Orion and Oxford, Michigan. He raised thoroughbred horses and sold subdivided land.
Beemer died of a heart attack March 1, 1965. He was buried in White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, Michigan.
At the time of his death, he was using his famous "Lone Ranger" voice on automobile commercials running on radio stations.
Radio Nostalgia Network: Bill Stern Colgate Sports News Reel: Brief interview with Brace Beemer from September 14, 1945 (12 minutes in).