Mason Alan Dinehart born April 30 1936 also known as Mason Alan Dinehart III Alan Dinehart III or Mase Dinehart is an American business consultant and retired actor best known for his role as a youthful Bat Masterson in thirtyfour episodes between 1955 and 1959 of the ABCDesilu television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp starring Hugh OBrian in the title role of the frontier marshal Wyatt Earp The Hollywoodborn Dinehart was the only son of the actor Alan Dinehart and Dineharts second wife actress journalist casting director and songwriter Mozelle Britton2 In 1936 he legally changed his name to Mason Alan Dinehart the same name as his father so that his younger son from the second marriage could be known as Mason Alan Dinehart III This name change created confusion because the senior Dineharts first son from his first marriage was already Alan Dinehart Jr 191819923 the former animation and voice director for HannaBarbera4 Mason Alan Dinehart has been married four times and has seven surviving children A son Scott Dinehart died in 2010 of an emergency hip operationcitation needed He has two children each from his first and second marriages to Evelyn Myers 19541958 and Barbara Blakely 19581965 respectively In 1982 he married for the fourth time he and the former Miranda Gazal have four children Dinehart played the youthful Bat Masterson who is the understudy of Wyatt Earp in learning the proper techniques of frontier law enforcement Earp rarely calls him Bat but Mr Masterson to teach the young man maturity In a 1956 episode Bat Masterson Again Earp shows young Masterson on the proper use of a pistol During this time Masterson was elected sheriff of Ford County Kansas which includes the county seat of Dodge City Bill Tilghman had been denied the right to run for sheriff again Earp as an appointed town marshal works with an elected sheriff and their differences in jurisdiction do not cause any problems Bats brother Ed Masterson played by Brad Johnson formerly the deputy sheriff on the Annie Oakley television series is shot in an ambush by drunken cowboys and Masterson settles the score When Earp finally comes to Tombstone Arizona Territory he lacks the working relationship with Sheriff Johnny Behan that he had in Kansas with Bat Masterson Dineharts performance of Masterson was so highly regarded that ABC offered him a spinoff series but he declined soon left acting and entered the business field Dineharts last appearance on the series is the episode Dodge Is Civilized April 28 1959 in which he serves notice that he is headed to Tombstone where he hopes Earp will join him in time There is never a reunion show and the Masterson character now a gambler is written out of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp The historical Earp did visit Tombstone to see his friend Masterson who in time became a figure of western folklore finishing his long career as a sportswriter in New York City Mastersons hat inspired the name of the Brown Derby restaurants in Los Angeles CLR From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
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