This actor and singer that I present to you is Gene Autry, stage name of Orvon Grover Autry, the person who has placed the most stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: there are 5 stars dedicated to him in all five categories of the famous Starry Hollywood Walk, the stars are on: Music: 6384; Radio: 6520; Cinema: 6644; TV: 6667 and Theater: 7000, all on Hollywood Boulevard.
Gene became known as “The Singing Cowboy”, being the first big star of B Westerns (short films, lasting between fifty and sixty minutes), followed by Roy Rogers, who surpassed him in popularity after Autry’s enlistment in the Air Force to go and fight in China, Burma and India in World War II in 1942.
Gene Autry returned to film in 1946 and, after working some more time in major studios, he founded his own studio in 1947, “Flying A Productions”, where he would make all of his subsequent films.
His last western in the cinema was: “Last of the Pony Riders”, from 1953. From then on, he started to dedicate himself to television, where he made a program since 1950: “The Gene Autry Show”, which had more than 100 episodes . He also produced the series: “Anne Oakley”; “Buffalo Bill Jr.”; “The Range Rider, Cavalcade of the West”; “Cavalgada do Oeste”; “The Adventures of Champion” (starring his famous horse, Champion) and the first thirty-nine episodes of: “Death Valley Days”. Between 1940 and 1956, he hosted a hugely successful radio show: “Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch”.
Autry stopped performing in 1964, with a career spanning over six hundred recordings and nearly two hundred films and TV shows. He was also a visionary entrepreneur: he acquired four radio stations and one television station; shares of two Phoenix, Arizona, newspapers; and twenty-five oil wells in Texas. He also owned many properties in various states, music publishing and studios, hotels, as well as investing heavily in the California Angels baseball team.
In Gene Autry’s films, the music often dominated the action. Thus, he was nominated for his only Oscar, for Best Original Song in 1942, for: “Be Honest With Me-Ridin’ on a Rainbow”, music and lyrics by: Gene Autry and Fred Rose, who did not win the statuette.
The actor was born on September 29, 1907, Tioga, Texas, United States and died of lymphoma, on October 2, 1998, three days after his 91st birthday, in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Gene Autry was married twice. He was widowed by Ina Mae Spivey Autry (1911-1980), with whom he lived for 48 years, from 1932 to 1980; and a year later, he married businesswoman Jacqueline Evelyn Ellam, known as: Jackie Autry (1941-), with whom he had a 17-year relationship, from 1981 to 1998, the year of her death.
