By the time he was in his early twenties Gene was singing on a Tulsa radio station he was billed as the “yodelling cowboy”, then in 1930 he spent four years in Chicago working on national radio shows and recording for Columbia Records.
In 1935 Gene starred in the film “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” as a singing cowboy. The film was a box office hit and Gene went on to make movies many more movies often they Co-starred his horse Champion. He was the top draw card in westerns for five years before his career was interrupted by Military service. When he was discharged he resumed his singing/acting career and made a total of fifty-two movies, his own production company produced more than thirty movies.
Never one to be left behind Gene appeared in his own weekly television show which started in 1950 and ran for six years, he also continued to record big selling hits and he wrote many hit songs including “Sing Me A Song Of The Saddle”, “The Old Trail”, “Dust” and “Here Comes Santa Claus”.
In 1954 Autry bowed out of performing to devote more time to his business interests, he bought a major league baseball team the California Angels, he also had interests in hotels, radio stations and rodeo’s.
The singing cowboy received many honours during his life but the one that he most appreciated was from the small town of Berwyn, Oklahoma, which changed its name to Gene Autry, Okalahoma.
Gene Autry died on October 2nd 1998 at the age of 91 he left behind a wonderful legacy of film and music for all to enjoy.
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