(CNN) -- Just two days after his 91st birthday, singer and actor Gene Autry has died. Great deals on Gene Autry. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. The $54-million museum, a three-story contemporary adaptation of Spanish mission and early Western architecture, includes a courtyard with a large bronze statue of Autry and Champion, and the Wells Fargo Theater, which screens classic Western films. ". 1991: The City of Anaheim names a street running into the stadium Gene Autry Way. Disney has an agreement to acquire Mr. Autry's remaining share. In all, he won nine gold-record awards and a platinum record. went along. He sold KMPC in 1984 for a reported $18 million and KTLA in 1982 for $245 million. His team may never have won a World Series in his lifetime, but he sure did leave this legacy behind. After leaving Republic in June 1944, he became the sidekick to Charles Starrett at Columbia Pictures in the new Durango Kid series. His grandfather was a Methodist preacher. His roles as honest American heros earned him a reputation as one of country musics most prominent figures. In 1982, he sold Los Angeles television station KTLA for $245 million. Wed been carrying the Dodgers for three years, but they went to another station and left us without a ballclub. . He has a great ability to attract people to him and he also had a great faculty for instilling loyalty. One dream went unfulfilled, however: The Angels never won the American League pennant, for which he had long yearned. 1978: Autrys biography Back in the Saddle Again hits bookstores. He was 91. Among other venues, he once appeared with Dewey Brown and the Oklahoma Playboys at a Friday-night dance at Jump's Roller Rink in Fairfax, Oklahoma. Corrections? 1943: Enlists in the Air Force as a flight officer with the Air Transport Command, flying cargo planes in the China-Burma-India theater. Gene Autry, original name Orvon Grover Autry, bynames the Singing Cowboy and Oklahomas Yodeling Cowboy, (born September 29, 1907, near Tioga, Texas, U.S.died October 2, 1998, Los Angeles, California), American actor, singer, and entrepreneur who was one of Hollywoods premier singing cowboys and the best-selling country and western recording artist of the 1930s and early 40s. Alan Autry is best known for his portrayal of police officer Bubba Skinner on the series "In the Heat of the Night." He was born . She appeared in four other silent films as a child: A Knight of the West (1921) as Fray Murten, When Love Comes (1922) as Ruth,[4] The Judgment of the Storm (1924) as a Heath Twin, and The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924) as a young Sarah Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln's stepmother). This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gene-Autry, Society for American Baseball Research - Gene Autry, Texas State Historical Association - The Handbook of Texas Online - Biography of Gene Orvon Autry, Gene Autry - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). It was mean work for a wiry boy, but ambition made me strong.. Lester Alvin Burnett (March 18, 1911 - February 16, 1967), better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and other B-movie cowboys. What followed was the Melody Ranch Show on CBS Radio. It became a weekend listening tradition for 16 years. [3] McKenzie was a Christian Scientist. Burnette is mentioned in the Statler Brothers' 1973 country music hit "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?" Autry, who grew up in Texas and Oklahoma, had aspired to be a singer since before he acquired a guitar at the age of 12. 1988: The 148,000-square-foot Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum opens in Griffith Park. He flew supply planes in the Far East. Many are still shown on late-night TV. [3] She had a small part in the 1939 film Gunga Din, which was inducted by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1999 with the motivation of being "culturally significant". Other popular cowboy stars in this period were Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) and John Wayne. In December 1988, the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, built largely with funds from Autry's foundations, opened in Los Angeles' Griffith Park. Born September 29, 1907, on a ranch. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. His death came three days after his 91st birthday and three months after that of his celluloid rival and friend Roy Rogers. Autry liked to tell this story about his philosophy: Whenever a lone cowboy or Indian needed to take a long journey by horseback, it was customary for him to ride on a saddled horse while leading another bareback. She also entertained the troops with her former screen partner, Gene Autry.[3]. I was 12 when I ordered my first guitar out of the worn and discolored pages of a Sears, Roebuck catalog. When he returned from the war, he began solidifying his business interests. He knew everybody, and I got the job. Hes also easy to sit down with and talk with and arrive at a decision with. Her first marriage to the American actor Steve Cochran in Acapulco, Mexico, in January 1946, ended in divorce in 1948, although they had separated nine months into the marriage. #inline-recirc-item--id-91bbf1f4-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { To moviegoers in the 1930s and 40s, Autry was a red-blooded American hero whose films featured a dashing horse, Champion, a flood of happy endings and simple Western songs. A pilot film with Mahoney and Burnette was completed, but never released; Columbia then reassigned Burnette to its Gene Autry series, reuniting Burnette with his former partner. Among the items in the $54 million museum are an 1870s-era steam fire engine from Nevada, guns owned by Annie Oakley and Wyatt Earp, and costumes of TV's Lone Ranger and Tonto. Showing his ability to capitalize on his success, Autry became the first star to endorse a mail order product--a guitar. It houses a 1870s-era steam fire engine from Nevada, guns owned by Annie Oakley and Wyatt Earp, and costumes of TV's Lone Ranger and Tonto. Autry, best known for his crooning vocals and Western movies, was a cowboy through and through. Later, the platinum record had to be invented for Autrys Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which sold more than 25 million copies and remains the third-biggest-selling single in history. In his . .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { } He told young fans he believed in "Ten Cowboy Commandments" -- including values such as respect, tolerance of others, honesty and truth, not taking unfair advantage of anyone and helping people in distress. By 1940, Smiley Burnette ranked second only to Autry in a Boxoffice magazine popularity poll of Western stars, the lone sidekick among the top 10 (though offscreen he earned a reputation as being moody and temperamental),[3] and when Autry left for World War II service, Burnette provided a sidekick to Eddie Dew, Sunset Carson, and Bob Livingston and appeared in nine other films with Roy Rogers. His songs were recorded by a wide range of singers, including Bing Crosby, Ferlin Husky, and Leon Russell. Autry was born Sept. 29, 1907, in Tioga, Texas, and grew up in the small Oklahoma town of Ravia. Later, tours with a USO troupe in the South Pacific. If it hadnt been for royalties from such things as sweatshirts, pistols, boots, hats and records, I would have been a mess. I had tremendous respect for Roy and considered him a great humanitarian and an outstanding American.". Autry outlived them both and mourned their passing, as he did Rogers. He just burst into song, she said. It was the success of his group, the Singing Cowboys, that led the music trade papers to change the designation of rural white music from "hillbilly" to "country and western.". It features Western memorabilia and art. Who was Karl Lagerfeld? preliminary acting course was "evidently wasted" and that the He attended his final Angels game only 10 days before he died. When I grew up on the [railroad] line between Texas and Oklahoma, X was not a rating for dirty movies, Autry once said. American Actor Gene Autry was born Orvon Grover Autry on 29th September, 1907 in Tioga, TX, USA and passed away on 2nd Oct 1998 Los Angeles, CA, USA aged 91. I just changed horses.. My friend Pat Buttram once said, Autry used to ride off into the sunset; now he owns it. Pat exaggerates. [2] In 1971, he was inducted posthumously into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. and Elizabeth Leonard. During the first television season, Buttram went by Pat or . He made additional money by making personal appearances at theaters showing his films. Died: October 2, 1998 (complications from cancer) Birthplace: Tioga . In 1981, the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame presented him with its first Lifetime Achievement Award.. Gail Davis. McKenzie went on to appear in four additional Autry films as his leading lady: Sierra Sue (1941) as Sue Larrabee, Cowboy Serenade (1942) as Stephanie Lock, Heart of the Rio Grande (1942) as Alice Bennett, and Home in Wyomin' (1942) as Clementine Benson. When the time came to turn down the lights, I just went back to being me. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Each year he made personal appearances at as many local fairs as he could pack into his schedule. Gene Autry went to the big ranch in the sky in 1998; he was 91. The Phantom Empire (1935) $150 per week. When he became the first country musician to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he spoke of his favorite team. Herbert Rawlinson (n le 15 novembre 1885 New Brighton en Angleterre et mort le 12 juillet 1953 ( 67 ans) Los Angeles, en Californie) est un acteur et producteur de cinma britannique . Then something changed, Low wages, short hours drive many fast-food workers into homelessness, Virginia Gov. Alan Autry was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on July 31, 1952, and grew up as a migrant farm worker in the fields of San Joaquin Valley in California. One historian later noted that "the time was right for a man gentle with children, romantic enough to serenade a lady and courageous enough to defend what is right with his wit, his fists, or -- rarely -- his guns. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Autry was the owner of a television station and several . When Starrett retired, Burnette was still under contract, so Columbia teamed him with Jock Mahoney for a new series of Westerns. I couldn't get any worse.". In baseball, I hardly ever won one., His popularity and generosity as an owner were well known throughout baseball. $9.95. She is also the author of Honky-Tonk Heroes and Hillbilly . Each package contained a 78 rpm record with four of his songs and 15 35 mm slides. In 1939, Autry took his show to Dublin, Ireland, where a crowd of more than 200,000 lined the streets to see the American cowboy star. Mr. Autry was also founder in Los Angeles 10 years ago of the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, built largely with funds from his foundations. . Autry released 635 records during his career. Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, John Wayne these men had the code of the West. (Chuck Norris), I thought Id gone to heaven, because I grew up watching Roy and Gene Autry. (Lee Majors), Even by the time I was four or five, I had Gene Autry records. (Robert Quine), Gene Autry was the most. Sales had reached a million by the next year, and because of the record's success, the notion of awarding a gold-plated copy was institutionalized. It said the young Autry needed to improve his acting, that a In 1995, he even agreed to sell his beloved Angels. 11. More pertinently, she was of an athletic disposition, a . Autry hung up his performing spurs in 1956, but continued to own four radio stations, the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs, and several other properties. Cause of Death. His company included such actors as Broncho Billy Anderson, Ben Turpin, and Victor Potel. } I always used my own name. He passed away at his Southern California home, a spokeswoman said. Singing Cowboy Gene Autry Dies October 2, 1998 / 3:22 PM / AP Gene Autry, who parlayed a $5 mail order guitar into a career as Hollywood's first singing cowboy, died Friday. Orvon Grover Autry was born September 29, 1907 near Tioga in Grayson County in north Texas, the grandson of a Methodist preacher. Death location. Wed always been known as a sports station at KMPC, Autry said. There was nothing noble about it. 1960: Purchases the American Leagues California Angels (now the Anaheim Angels) for $2.5 million. Real Name: Orvon Gene Autry. It was very improvisational, but a great event in my life. Their association produced 62 feature-length musical Westerns. Melody Trail (1935) $100 per week. According to IMDb, his birthplace was near Tioga, Texas, on Sept. 29, 1907. I had no illusions about my films, nor did I consider myself anything special as an actor or a singer. [1] He was also a prolific singer-songwriter who is reported to have played proficiently over 100 musical instruments, sometimes more than one simultaneously. I wasnt like John Wayne [a close friend]. His horse, Champion, and his sidekick, Smiley Burnette, usually starred with him. Western lore was as much of a passion for Autry as sports. He ranked on Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans for several years and in 1990 was the elite groups only entertainer. The said museum honored the kind of cowboys Autry had played onscreen. In spring 1995, Autry announced that the Walt Disney Co. was buying a part interest in the team, and the following year Disney took operating control. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Los . As the 1960s began, Burnette continued to make personal appearances at drive-ins, fairs, hospitals, town squares, and rodeos. the performer had no future in Hollywood. I had to learn to figure freight rates, he said. In the 1950s, she traveled to New York to study with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, appeared on radio shows with Groucho Marx, and toured with the songwriter Harry Ruby. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1952. His parents were Delbert and Einora. [9] In 1940, McKenzie appeared in the stage show Meet the People, which premiered in Los Angeles and ended up on Broadway.[3]. He was ranked the top cowboy movie star from 1937 to 1943, heyday of the Western. . I didnt intend to look for some loophole to keep me out, Autry said in his biography. His radio and TV empire began to grow. 1937: Becomes Americas Favorite Cowboy, voted the Number 1 Western Star by the theater exhibitors of America , a rank he held through 1942. Former president and ex-movie star Ronald Reagan issued a statement with his wife, Nancy, saying that Mr. Autry had "delighted and touched millions through many careers, as cowboy, singer, actor, radio star, baseball owner, art collector, philanthropist, businessman and good and caring citizen. In 1931, he sold 500,000 copies of his breakthrough record, "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine." dd/mm/yyyy. Years before, when he was still a railroad telegrapher, Autry had taken a correspondence course in business administration. Buttram's first Autry film was The Strawberry Roan in 1948.
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