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.

James Coburn roams the Iverson Ranch on "Bonanza"

"Bonanza" episode "The Long Night" (May 6, 1962): James Coburn at Overhang Rock

Even as the Iverson Movie Ranch was beginning to wind down operations in the 1960s, one major TV show that continued to bring its location business to the ranch was "Bonanza."

James Coburn on the Lower Iverson in "Bonanza"

In March 1962, when James Coburn arrived at Iverson to shoot the season three episode "The Long Night," "Bonanza" was still filming regularly on both the Lower Iverson and the Upper Iverson.

One of the rocks Coburn rides past during this sequence — noted here with a red arrow — is pretty interesting. This rock wasn't seen all that often in productions, even though it was located in a relatively prominent spot.

The rock was big enough to tower over a horse and rider, and had an unusual shape to it. I've taken to calling it "Headstone Rock" because ... well, for obvious reasons, I suppose.

These shots are taken in the "Batman Corner" area of the Lower Iverson, some of which remains intact today alongside Redmesa Road. However, Headstone Rock fell prey to the developers' bulldozers in the 1980s.

Filming Roger Corman's "Deathsport" (1978)

A behind-the-scenes shot that surfaced from filming on the Iverson Ranch for the Roger Corman movie "Deathsport" in 1978 again shows the scale of Headstone Rock, which towers over the people and vehicles.

The rock is so perfectly shaped that I have considered whether it might be fake. However, it has been glimpsed on a few occasions in productions from decades earlier, suggesting it was real.

Sticky Bun as it appears today, behind the condos

Sticky Bun is still easy to spot on a visit to the Chatsworth, Calif., site, and can be seen even without getting out of the car as one drives along Redmesa Road, north of Santa Susana Pass Road.

Surviving fragments of Rock Island, just off Redmesa Road

Rock Island is still intact too — in a way. The rocks remain in place but were largely buried during grading for the Cal West Townhomes. I talked about this in detail in a previous post that you can see by clicking here.

The rock James Coburn is leaning on in this shot is familiar to film historians and Iverson Ranch enthusiasts, who know it as Overhang Rock. Sadly, this rock also did not survive the development of the Cal West Townhomes.

"Wyoming Roundup" (1952): Overhang Rock, on the Lower Iverson

Here's a nice shot of Overhang Rock about a decade earlier, from the Whip Wilson B-Western "Wyoming Roundup." This shot reveals the overhanging ledge that gave the rock its name.

This is where James Coburn stood, more or less, as he leaned against the rock in "Bonanza," although he was a bit more behind the rock than my rough outline suggests. He was facing toward the right of the frame.

"Colorado Ambush" (1951): Johnny Mack Brown at Overhang Rock

Johnny Mack Brown peeked out from behind the same rock — but the other end of it — in the Monogram B-Western "Colorado Ambush."

Johnny was lurking under the overhanging part of the rock — you can see a little bit of the overhang here.

"The Oklahoma Kid": James Cagney, with Overhang Rock and Cagney Rock

Another famous actor who stood in the shade of Overhang Rock was James Cagney, who posed beneath the rock in a well-known promo still for "The Oklahoma Kid" in 1939.

Even though Overhang Rock itself is long gone, the rock seen behind Cagney, "Cagney Rock," remains in place as part of the landscaping for the Cal West Townhomes. You can read more about it by clicking here.

"Bonanza": James Coburn in what is now the condos

So many rocks, so little time. In another shot from the "Bonanza" episode, Coburn, playing an escaped convict, puts his leg up on a rock in an attempt to break his prison chains. I have yet to identify this particular rock.

Adam scampers past Cleft Rock in "The Long Night"

The "Bonanza" episode contains tons of great rocks — and as I like to point out, when we're talking about the giant sandstone boulders of the Iverson Ranch, we can use the word "tons" literally.

Cleft Rock, seen here, can still be found at the site, a short distance north of the main Garden of the Gods rock towers, on land that has been preserved as a park. Many of the other rocks in this shot have been destroyed.

One of my favorite shots in the "Bonanza" episode is this one showing a mysterious road that remains in place at the site, not far from Cleft Rock. I call it the Cobblestone Road, although it doesn't meet the technical definition.

I've been trying to learn the origins of the Cobblestone Road for years, without any luck. The "Bonanza" episode marks the first time I've seen it this clearly in any production, but my hunch is it dates back to the '20s or '30s.

The Cobblestone Road in modern times

This photo from 2009 shows what the Cobblestone Road looks like today. It's not nearly as fully formed as it was during the "Bonanza" shoot more than a half-century ago, but that's it in the lower left corner of the frame.

How to find Cleft Rock and the Cobblestone Road

Here's a map to some of the features mentioned above. Start by finding Redmesa Road in Chatsworth. Park below the condos, then follow the map. (You may want to click on the map to see a larger version.)

Where's the logic? Beloved "Star Trek" figure Leonard Nimoy goes on the warpath

 "Mackenzie's Raiders" (1959) — Leonard Nimoy as Yellow Wolf, right

I believe it's fairly well-known among fans of "Star Trek: The Original Series" that Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played the landmark TV show's iconic and always logical Mr. Spock, worked quite a bit in television before he got that role, including often appearing as Native American characters in early TV Westerns.

Leonard Nimoy, second from left, and other Native American characters on "Mackenzie's Raiders"

I recently ran across a nice example of Nimoy's pre-"Star Trek" work that brought him in full Native American regalia to the Iverson Movie Ranch, where he went on the warpath as the renegade Yellow Wolf in an episode of the TV Western "Mackenzie's Raiders." The episode, titled "Joe Ironhat," first aired in 1959, seven years before Nimoy clocked in as Spock on "Star Trek." In the above shot he appears alongside well-known Chiricahua Apache actor Dehl Berti, at right, playing the title character, Joe Topanga, or "Joe Ironhat."

Dehl Berti, left, and Leonard Nimoy in "Mackenzie's Raiders" 
— with Iverson's Cactus Hill in the background

In "Joe Ironhat," Nimoy's character represents the Native Americans' militant, Cavalry-hating wing while Berti's Joe Topanga is friendly with the white man and is working to make peace. The above shot is taken on the Lower Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., with widely filmed movie feature Cactus Hill visible behind the actors.

Tensions build until the episode culminates in the inevitable shootout between the Cavalry and the Native Americans. Here Yellow Wolf leads a small band of warriors as they get in position to do battle. You may notice Berti as Joe Topanga hovering reluctantly in the background. The scene takes place in Iverson's North Cluster, adjacent to Garden of the Gods, with this shot featuring a familiar movie landmark, Cleft Rock.

Here's that same shot with Cleft Rock and Nimoy pointed out. You can read more about Cleft Rock by clicking here.

Nimoy's Yellow Wolf, taking cover behind one of the rocks of the North Cluster, aims to gun down as many Cavalrymen as he can.

Meanwhile, Yellow Wolf also has a beef with his rival Joe Topanga. In the above shot Yellow Wolf is coming after Joe with a knife. Nimoy's Yellow Wolf is a real sourpuss, with one of his most frequent lines in the episode being, "You will die!"