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 After high school Gene Autry worked as a laborer for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad in Oklahoma. Next he was a telegrapher. In 1928 he began singing on a local radio station, and three years later he had his own show and was making his first recordings. Three years after that he made his film debut in Ken Maynard's In Old Santa Fe (1934) and starred in a 13-part serial the following year for Mascot Pictures, The Phantom Empire (1935). The next year he signed a contract with Republic Pictures and began making westerns. Autry--for better or worse--pretty much ushered in the era of the "singing cowboy" westerns of the 1930s and 1940s (in spite of the presence in his oaters of automobiles, radios and airplanes). These films often grossed ten times their average $50,000 production costs. During World War II he enlisted in the US Army and was assigned as a flight officer from 1942-46 with the Air Transport Command. After his military service he returned to making movies, this time with Columbia Pictures, and finally with his own company, Flying A Productions, which, during the 1950s, produced his TV series The Gene Autry Show (1950), The Adventures of Champion (1955), and Annie Oakley (1954). He wrote over 200 songs. A savvy businessman, he retired from acting in the early 1960s and became a multi-millionaire from his investments in hotels, real estate, radio stations and the California Angels professional baseball team.Composer, songwriter ("Back in the Saddle Again","That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine"), actor, author and businessman, educated at Ravia (Oklahoma) High School. He was a telegrapher for the Frisco Railroad, and first appeared on radio in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Later he had his own radio show on CBS. In World War he was a flight officer for the United States Army Air Force. He won the National Parents-Teachers Film Award for the films and television programs he produced. He joined ASCAP in 1939, and his other popular-song compositions include: "Here Comes Santa Claus"; "Be Honest With Me"; "Tears on My Pillow"; "Dixie Cannonball"; "Good Old-Fashioned Hoedown"; "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven"; and "I Wish I Had Never Met Sunshine".Orvon Gene Autry is considered by many to be the greatest western star of all time. He earned the designation of "America's Favorite Cowboy". He was "discovered" by Will Rogers while working as a telegrapher. One of his stars on the Walk of fame is for Live Performance (including rodeo), not live theater. Also, "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine" sold over 500,000 copies in its first release. He is the first artist in history to have a gold record. Also, he is also the first artist to ever sell 1,000,000 copies of a record - "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine". He was also the first artist ever to sell out Madison Square Garden. His song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is the second highest selling Christmas song of all time. It has sold over 30 million copies. In 1940, he was the 4th highest grossing box office attraction according to Theater Exhibitors of America. The only stars above him were Mickey Rooney, Clark Gable, and Spencer Tracy. By 1948, Dell Publishing was printing over 1,000,000 Gene Autry Comic Books per year. Gene Autry was #49 on CMT's 50 Greatest Men of Country Music, and he also had 2 songs on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs Of Country. everything Gene touched seemed to turn to gold. After he retired from acting, he had many successful business ventures, including radio and television stations. He also owned the California Angels. When he sold part of his interest to Disney, they became the Anaheim Angels. He was Vice President of The American League until his death. Sadly, he never got to see his beloved Angels win the World Series. The team even retired Gene's number "26". He has a town named after him -- Gene Autry, Oklahoma. They host a festival/celebration every year. Gene died in 1998 from lymphoma.
Bio:
After high school Gene Autry worked as a laborer for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad in Oklahoma. Next he was a telegrapher. In 1928 he began singing on a local radio station, and three years later he had his own show and was making his first recordings. Three years after that he made his film debut in Ken Maynard's In Old Santa Fe (1934) and starred in a 13-part serial the following year for Mascot Pictures, The Phantom Empire (1935). The next year he signed a contract with Republic Pictures and began making westerns. Autry--for better or worse--pretty much ushered in the era of the "singing cowboy" westerns of the 1930s and 1940s (in spite of the presence in his oaters of automobiles, radios and airplanes). These films often grossed ten times their average $50,000 production costs. During World War II he enlisted in the US Army and was assigned as a flight officer from 1942-46 with the Air Transport Command. After his military service he returned to making movies, this time with Columbia Pictures, and finally with his own company, Flying A Productions, which, during the 1950s, produced his TV series The Gene Autry Show (1950), The Adventures of Champion (1955), and Annie Oakley (1954). He wrote over 200 songs. A savvy businessman, he retired from acting in the early 1960s and became a multi-millionaire from his investments in hotels, real estate, radio stations and the California Angels professional baseball team.
Composer, songwriter ("Back in the Saddle Again","That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine"), actor, author and businessman, educated at Ravia (Oklahoma) High School. He was a telegrapher for the Frisco Railroad, and first appeared on radio in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Later he had his own radio show on CBS. In World War he was a flight officer for the United States Army Air Force. He won the National Parents-Teachers Film Award for the films and television programs he produced. He joined ASCAP in 1939, and his other popular-song compositions include: "Here Comes Santa Claus"; "Be Honest With Me"; "Tears on My Pillow"; "Dixie Cannonball"; "Good Old-Fashioned Hoedown"; "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven"; and "I Wish I Had Never Met Sunshine".
Orvon Gene Autry is considered by many to be the greatest western star of all time. He earned the designation of "America's Favorite Cowboy". He was "discovered" by Will Rogers while working as a telegrapher. One of his stars on the Walk of fame is for Live Performance (including rodeo), not live theater. Also, "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine" sold over 500,000 copies in its first release. He is the first artist in history to have a gold record. Also, he is also the first artist to ever sell 1,000,000 copies of a record - "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine". He was also the first artist ever to sell out Madison Square Garden. His song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is the second highest selling Christmas song of all time. It has sold over 30 million copies. In 1940, he was the 4th highest grossing box office attraction according to Theater Exhibitors of America. The only stars above him were Mickey Rooney, Clark Gable, and Spencer Tracy. By 1948, Dell Publishing was printing over 1,000,000 Gene Autry Comic Books per year. Gene Autry was #49 on CMT's 50 Greatest Men of Country Music, and he also had 2 songs on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs Of Country. everything Gene touched seemed to turn to gold. After he retired from acting, he had many successful business ventures, including radio and television stations. He also owned the California Angels. When he sold part of his interest to Disney, they became the Anaheim Angels. He was Vice President of The American League until his death. Sadly, he never got to see his beloved Angels win the World Series. The team even retired Gene's number "26". He has a town named after him -- Gene Autry, Oklahoma. They host a festival/celebration every year. Gene died in 1998 from lymphoma.
Tivia:
In response to his millions of young fans who wanted to be like Gene Autry, he developed a code of conduct, "The Cowboy Code", which is as follows:1. The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage. 2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him. 3. He must always tell the truth. 4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals. 5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas. 6. He must help people in distress. 7. He must be a good worker. 8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits. 9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation's laws. 10. The Cowboy is a patriot.He was a lifelong Republican and an avid supporter of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.On 8 February 1960, he was awarded 4 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for Motion Pictures at 6644 Hollywood Boulevard; Radio at 6520 Hollywood Boulevard; Recording at 6384 Hollywood Boulevard; and Television at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard. On 6 April 1987, he received a fifth star for Live Performance (rodeo) at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. He is the only person with 5 stars on the Walk of Fame.According to a Hollywood legend, published in The Orange County Register after his death, Autry was discovered singing in a telegraph office in Oklahoma by Will Rogers. Rogers told him that he had a pretty good voice, and suggested that he go to Hollywood where he could make some money singing in the movies. Gene followed Rogers' advice and became "The Singing Cowboy." Autry himself related this story in an interview with Cecil B. DeMille on the Lux Radio Drama Hour. In the interview, Gene added that the next time he saw Rogers was in Hollywood. According to Gene, Will just nodded and said, "I see you made it, kid."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.More than 50 years after the last Gene Autry western, he is better known to later generations as a singer. His remastered vintage recordings of "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" remain very popular holiday standards into the 21st century.Once tried to open a restaurant in Chicago. Local Mafia chieftains demanded a cut for their "permission" to start business. Autry refused to pay up. On the opening night gangsters appeared and told the staff to leave, and then destroyed the entire restaurant. Autry closed down and returned to the west coast.Grandson of an itinerant preacher, he became a multi-millionaire through his investments and real estate holdings.Gene did a lot work with preserving artifacts of the "Old West", including many Indian relics, and had a museum containing many of these articles.Autry was the first owner of the Los Angeles Angels American League baseball club, subsequently renamed the California Angels when the team was relocated to Anaheim in 1966. (The team has been renamed twice: the Anaheim Angels, and now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.) A radio station owner, Autry was interested in acquiring the broadcasting rights to the Angels games when he found out the team, part of the American League's first expansion, was for sale. He bought it. Autry owned the team in its entirety from its first year of play, 1961, until 1997, when he sold part of the franchise to Disney, who renamed the team the Anaheim Angels. Autry's widow sold the rest of the team to Disney after his death the next year at the age of 91.The California/Anaheim Angels franchise retired #26 in his honor.In 1992 he was said to be worth $320 million.He was the most popular of the "singing cowboys." In his heyday he was making six to eight feature westerns a year.Of his 92 starring features, only The Strawberry Roan (1948) and The Big Sombrero (1949) were filmed and released in color. Additionally, only the last season, 1955-56, of his long running TV series, "The Gene Autry Show"(1950) was filmed and broadcast in color.The Ocotillo Lodge in Palm Springs was once owned by Gene Autry. It has been used for film location shoots. It features a Mid-Century Architectural Design.In 1952 he bought the Monogram Ranch which had been used in Western films since 1915 and went onto be used in the film High Noon and the television series Gunsmoke.His first hit record was "That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine" in 1932.Owned Golden West Broadcasters, which owned and operated San Francisco AM radio station KSFO, Los Angeles television station KTLA channel 5, and Los Angeles AM radio station KMPC.In 1940, the National Association of Theater Owners voted him the fourth biggest box office attraction, behind Mickey Rooney, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy.Business address: 4383 ColFax Ave. Studio City, CA 91604He was a first cousin, twice removed, of actors Randy Quaid and Dennis Quaid. Gene's maternal grandparents, Andrew Clinton Ozment and Margaret Malinda Pierce, were also Dennis and Randy's paternal great-great-grandparents.Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969.There was an alternate version of Gene's first starring film, "The Phantom Empire"(1935), a 12 chapter serial. Though the plot and end result were the same, Gene's character(himself) is missing towards the end of the film, with not even a reference to his earlier presence. The film continues with the other cast members. Gene was temporarily unavailable and the film was almost shelved, but Gene finally returned to complete the film. That alternate version was last aired, locally in in NYC, in the early 1950s, perhaps by mistake, on a local feature program, titled "Time For Adventure"(TV). The shows' host, Rex Marshall,possibly unaware, made no mention of Gene's sudden absence from the film. There appear to be no reported sightings of that version since.His horse was named Champion.Inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1980.During the war, he was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.On January 1st, 1942, the small town of Berwyn (Carter County, Oklahoma) changed its name and became 'Gene Autry'.Autry's former Palm Springs, CA estate is now the Parker Palm Springs resort hotel. Gene's desert home is one of a number of bungalows on the property. During his ownership, it was known as Melody Ranch.Interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA, in the Sheltering Hills section, Grave #1048.Business address: 5828 W. Sunset Blvd, Hollwyood CA 90028He was unusual in that he was the first film actor to play himself in films. Roy Rogers and Bob Hope would follow. He was also the first of the singing cowboys.Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 19-22. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.Inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979 as a stock contractor.Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1972.From 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 films. From 1950 to 1955, he also appeared in 91 episodes of The Gene Autry Show television series. As of 2014, a large number of these films and television episodes remain available via the Gene Autry Foundation on the Western Channel (a cable television station), the latter having collaborated with the Foundation to restore the Republic titles, which had been cut to a uniform 54 minutes for television release in the 1950s, to full length and to provide clean negative-based source prints for all the titles in the 1990s. |
| Name: |
Gene Autry |
Type: |
Music Artist,Actor,Producer (IMDB) |
| Area: |
All World |
Platform: |
IMDB |
| Category: |
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Business scope: |
Music Artist,Actor,Producer |
| Products for sale: |
Music Artist,Actor,Producer |
| Last update: |
2024-07-01 05:01:36 |
| Height: |
5' 9' (1.75 m) |
| Biography: |
After high school Gene Autry worked as a laborer for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad in Oklahoma. Next he was a telegrapher. In 1928 he began singing on a local radio station, and three years later he had his own show and was making his firs |
| Trivia: |
In response to his millions of young fans who wanted to be like Gene Autry, he developed a code of conduct, "The Cowboy Code", which is as follows:1. The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage. 2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him. 3. He must always tell the truth. 4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals. 5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas. 6. He must help people in distress. 7. He must be a good worker. 8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits. 9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation's laws. 10. The Cowboy is a patriot.He was a lifelong Republican and an avid supporter of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.On 8 February 1960, he was awarded 4 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for Motion Pictures at 6644 Hollywood Boulevard; Radio at 6520 Hollywood Boulevard; Recording at 6384 Hollywood Boulevard; and Television at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard. On 6 April 1987, he received a fifth star for Live Performance (rodeo) at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. He is the only person with 5 stars on the Walk of Fame.According to a Hollywood legend, published in The Orange County Register after his death, Autry was discovered singing in a telegraph office in Oklahoma by Will Rogers. Rogers told him that he had a pretty good voice, and suggested that he go to Hollywood where he could make some money singing in the movies. Gene followed Rogers' advice and became "The Singing Cowboy." Autry himself related this story in an interview with Cecil B. DeMille on the Lux Radio Drama Hour. In the interview, Gene added that the next time he saw Rogers was in Hollywood. According to Gene, Will just nodded and said, "I see you made it, kid."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.More than 50 years after the last Gene Autry western, he is better known to later generations as a singer. His remastered vintage recordings of "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" remain very popular holiday standards into the 21st century.Once tried to open a restaurant in Chicago. Local Mafia chieftains demanded a cut for their "permission" to start business. Autry refused to pay up. On the opening night gangsters appeared and told the staff to leave, and then destroyed the entire restaurant. Autry closed down and returned to the west coast.Grandson of an itinerant preacher, he became a multi-millionaire through his investments and real estate holdings.Gene did a lot work with preserving artifacts of the "Old West", including many Indian relics, and had a museum containing many of these articles.Autry was the first owner of the Los Angeles Angels American League baseball club, subsequently renamed the California Angels when the team was relocated to Anaheim in 1966. (The team has been renamed twice: the Anaheim Angels, and now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.) A radio station owner, Autry was interested in acquiring the broadcasting rights to the Angels games when he found out the team, part of the American League's first expansion, was for sale. He bought it. Autry owned the team in its entirety from its first year of play, 1961, until 1997, when he sold part of the franchise to Disney, who renamed the team the Anaheim Angels. Autry's widow sold the rest of the team to Disney after his death the next year at the age of 91.The California/Anaheim Angels franchise retired #26 in his honor.In 1992 he was said to be worth $320 million.He was the most popular of the "singing cowboys." In his heyday he was making six to eight feature westerns a year.Of his 92 starring features, only The Strawberry Roan (1948) and The Big Sombrero (1949) were filmed and released in color. Additionally, only the last season, 1955-56, of his long running TV series, "The Gene Autry Show"(1950) was filmed and broadcast in color.The Ocotillo Lodge in Palm Springs was once owned by Gene Autry. It has been used for film location shoots. It features a Mid-Century Architectural Design.In 1952 he bought the Monogram Ranch which had been used in Western films since 1915 and went onto be used in the film High Noon and the television series Gunsmoke.His first hit record was "That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine" in 1932.Owned Golden West Broadcasters, which owned and operated San Francisco AM radio station KSFO, Los Angeles television station KTLA channel 5, and Los Angeles AM radio station KMPC.In 1940, the National Association of Theater Owners voted him the fourth biggest box office attraction, behind Mickey Rooney, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy.Business address: 4383 ColFax Ave. Studio City, CA 91604He was a first cousin, twice removed, of actors Randy Quaid and Dennis Quaid. Gene's maternal grandparents, Andrew Clinton Ozment and Margaret Malinda Pierce, were also Dennis and Randy's paternal great-great-grandparents.Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969.There was an alternate version of Gene's first starring film, "The Phantom Empire"(1935), a 12 chapter serial. Though the plot and end result were the same, Gene's character(himself) is missing towards the end of the film, with not even a reference to his earlier presence. The film continues with the other cast members. Gene was temporarily unavailable and the film was almost shelved, but Gene finally returned to complete the film. That alternate version was last aired, locally in in NYC, in the early 1950s, perhaps by mistake, on a local feature program, titled "Time For Adventure"(TV). The shows' host, Rex Marshall,possibly unaware, made no mention of Gene's sudden absence from the film. There appear to be no reported sightings of that version since.His horse was named Champion.Inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1980.During the war, he was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.On January 1st, 1942, the small town of Berwyn (Carter County, Oklahoma) changed its name and became 'Gene Autry'.Autry's former Palm Springs, CA estate is now the Parker Palm Springs resort hotel. Gene's desert home is one of a number of bungalows on the property. During his ownership, it was known as Melody Ranch.Interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA, in the Sheltering Hills section, Grave #1048.Business address: 5828 W. Sunset Blvd, Hollwyood CA 90028He was unusual in that he was the first film actor to play himself in films. Roy Rogers and Bob Hope would follow. He was also the first of the singing cowboys.Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 19-22. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.Inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979 as a stock contractor.Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1972.From 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 films. From 1950 to 1955, he also appeared in 91 episodes of The Gene Autry Show television series. As of 2014, a large number of these films and television episodes remain available via the Gene Autry Foundation on the Western Channel (a cable television station), the latter having collaborated with the Foundation to restore the Republic titles, which had been cut to a uniform 54 minutes for television release in the 1950s, to full length and to provide clean negative-based source prints for all the titles in the 1990s. |
| Trademarks: |
Song: "Back in the Saddle Again", horse: Champion |
| Quotes: |
[in a conversation with director Frank McDonald about his career] I'm not a good actor, a good rider or a particularly good singer, but they seem to like what I do, so I'll keep on doing it as long as they want.
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[on the music industry] It occurs to me that music, with the possible exception of riding a bull, is the most uncertain way to make a living I know. In either case you can get bucked off, thrown, stepped on, trampled--if you get on at all. At best, it is a short and bumpy ride.
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<hr>
In my day, most people thought dance hall girls actually danced.
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[on Errol Flynn] He spent more time on a bar stool, or in court, or in the headlines, or in bed, than anyone I knew.
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[on the difference between modern westerns and the westerns made during his day] I could never have played scenes like where The Sundance Kid kicks the guy in the nuts [in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)] or anything like Clint Eastwood does. |
| Salaries: |
The Gene Autry Show (1950) - $12,500 per week
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<hr>
Shooting High (1940) - $25,000
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<hr>
Comin' 'Round the Mountain (1936) - $100 per week
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The Oregon Trail (1936) - $100 per week
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| Job title: |
Music Artist,Actor,Producer |
| Others works: |
(1949) Single: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". This is the second highest selling Christmas song after Bing Crosby's "White Christmas."
(1950) Single: "Peter Cottontail" (#5 on pop charts).
(1947) Single: "Here |
| Spouse: |
Jackie Autry (July 19, 1981 - October 2, 1998) (his death)Ina Mae Spivey (April 1, 1932 - May 20, 1980) (her death) |
| Relatives: |
Dennis Quaid (Cousin)
Randy Quaid (Cousin)
Buddy Quaid (Cousin) |
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