Orvon Grover Autry
13 min read
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2,597
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3
Awards
Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy, made his film debut in 1934 in In Old Santa Fe and starred in 93 films and 91 TV episodes. He owned the California Angels from 1961 to 1997 and was the only celebrity with five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His songs Here Comes Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer remain holiday staples.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Gene Autry — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Gene Autry by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Gene Autry — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
In 1928, while working as a telegrapher for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, Autry started a radio show that launched his career. He was born near Tioga, Texas in 1907, the grandson of an itinerant preacher, and grew up in modest circumstances. After high school, he labored on the railroad before discovering his singing voice on the airwaves.
In 1934, Autry made his film debut in In Old Santa Fe starring Ken Maynard. The next year he headlined the serial The Phantom Empire for Mascot Pictures. In 1936 he signed with Republic Pictures and began churning out singing cowboy westerns that often grossed ten times their production costs. Autry wrote over 200 songs and released hits like That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine in 1932. During World War II he served as a flight officer in the Army Air Transport Command from 1942 to 1946. After the war, he moved to Columbia Pictures and later produced his own TV series, The Gene Autry Show 1950, The Adventures of Champion 1955, and Annie Oakley 1954. By the early 1960s he retired from acting and became a multi-millionaire through investments in hotels, real estate, radio stations, and the California Angels baseball team.
In 1932, Autry married Ina Mae Spivey; they remained together until her death in 1980. He wed Jackie Autry in 1981, and they stayed married until his death in 1998. A lifelong Republican, he supported Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. He was a first cousin twice removed of actors Randy Quaid and Dennis Quaid. The grandson of an itinerant preacher, he became a multi-millionaire through shrewd investments.
Gene Autry essentially created the singing cowboy genre, inspiring a generation of western performers. He developed The Cowboy Code, a set of moral guidelines for his young fans. His holiday recordings of Here Comes Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer remain perennial favorites. Autry was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969, the Hall of Great Westerners in 1980, and the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. He is remembered as the most popular singing cowboy and the only person with five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The complete filmography of Gene Autry — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Gene Autry — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Gene Autry — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
In My Day, Most People Thought Dance Hall Girls Actually Danced.
My Movies Were Always Clean. Parents Didn’t Need a Babysitter. for 50 Cents They Could Send Their Kids Down to See My Pictures and Know They Would Be Entertained Wholesomely.
I Happened to Come Along in an Era When Movies Were Changing. That Was About 1934. There Was a Break Between the Great Silent Screen Stars – Buck Jones, Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson – and the New Crop That Was to Come Along. I Was the First of the Singing Cowboys. If I’d Come into Pictures Five Years Earlier or Five Years Later, I Might Not Have Succeeded. as I Look Over My Life, I’d Say the Most Important Thing Is to Be at the Right Place at the Right Time.
Little-known facts about Gene Autry — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
In response to his millions of young fans who wanted to be like him, Autry developed a code of conduct, The Cowboy Code, which includes never shooting first and always telling the truth.
According to a Hollywood legend, Autry was discovered singing in a telegraph office in Oklahoma by Will Rogers, who told him to go to Hollywood to make money singing in movies.
More than 50 years after his last western, Autry is better known to later generations as a singer, with his recordings of Here Comes Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer remaining holiday standards.
Autry is the only celebrity with five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He once tried to open a restaurant in Chicago, but local Mafia chieftains demanded a cut; when he refused, they destroyed the restaurant on opening night.
During World War II, when he left Republic Pictures to join the U.S. Army, he was the only officer allowed to wear cowboy boots with his uniform.
He was a lifelong Republican and an avid supporter of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.
Grandson of an itinerant preacher, he became a multi-millionaire through his investments and real estate holdings.
Autry did a lot of work preserving artifacts of the Old West, including many Indian relics, and had a museum containing many of these articles.
He was the most popular of the singing cowboys, making six to eight feature westerns a year in his heyday.
In 1992 he was said to be worth $320 million.
The California/Anaheim Angels franchise retired number 26 in his honor.
Autry was the first owner of the Los Angeles Angels American League baseball club, later the California Angels, owning the team from its first year in 1961 until 1997.
In 1952 he bought the Monogram Ranch, used in Western films since 1915, later appearing in High Noon and Gunsmoke.
He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969.
He owned Golden West Broadcasters, which owned radio stations KSFO, KMPC, and television station KTLA.
During the war, he was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
He was a first cousin, twice removed, of actors Randy Quaid and Dennis Quaid.
His first hit record was That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine in 1932.
In 1940, the National Association of Theater Owners voted him the fourth biggest box office attraction, behind Mickey Rooney, Clark Gable, and Spencer Tracy.
Of his 92 starring features, only The Strawberry Roan 1948 and The Big Sombrero 1949 were filmed in color.
The Ocotillo Lodge in Palm Springs was once owned by Autry and features Mid-Century Modern design.
He was the first film actor to play himself in films, followed by Roy Rogers and Bob Hope.
He was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1980.
Autry’s former Palm Springs estate is now the Parker Palm Springs resort hotel, known during his ownership as Melody Ranch.
On January 1, 1942, the town of Berwyn, Oklahoma, changed its name to Gene Autry.
His horse was named Champion.
He is interred at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills in the Sheltering Hills section, Grave #1048.
He was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979 as a stock contractor.
From 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 films; from 1950 to 1955, he appeared in 91 episodes of The Gene Autry Show.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Gene Autry.
Celebrities similar to Gene Autry — same craft, ranked by reach.
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