Rex Allen

Cremated, his ashes were scattered near the Rex Allen Museum in Wilcox, Arizona where most of his memorabilia is on display. and the live theatre star is located on 7000 Hollywood Blvd. Rex Allen died in 1999 in Tucson, Arizona from injuries received when his caretaker accidentally ran over him in the driveway of his home. He is also the only person to date to receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for contributions in all five possible categories: the motion picture star is located on 6644 Hollywood Blvd., the radio star is located on 6520 Hollywood Blvd., the recording star is located on 6384 Hollywood Blvd., the TV star is located on 6667 Hollywood Blvd. In 1989 his life story was told in the book Rex Allen: "My Life" Sunrise to Sunset - The Arizona Cowboy written by Paula Simpson-Witt and Snuff Garrett. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Rex Allen was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6821 Hollywood Blvd. Gene Autry died of lymphoma at age 91 at his home in Los Angeles, and is interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Allen was gifted with a rich, pleasant voice, ideally suited for narration and was able to find considerable work as a narrator in a variety of films especially for Walt Disney Pictures wildlife films and TV shows. Included for many years on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans, he slipped to their "near miss" category in 1995 with an estimated net worth of $320 million. As other cowboy stars made the transition to television, Allen tried too, cast as Dr. Bill Baxter for a half-hour weekly series called Frontier Doctor. In 1988 he opened the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum (now called the Museum of the American West) in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, featuring much of his collection of Western art and memorabilia. He has the distinction of making the last singing western in 1954. His autobiography was published in 1976, co-written by Mickey Herskowitz; it was titled Back in the Saddle Again after his 1939 hit and signature tune. Late in coming to the industry, his film career was relatively short as the popularity of westerns faded by the mid 1950s. He married Jacqueline Ellam in 1981.

Over his career, Rex Allen wrote and recorded many songs, a number of which were featured in his own films. 1980), who was the niece of Jimmy Long. Allen's comic relief sidekick in first few pictures was Buddy Ebsen and then character actor, Slim Pickens. In 1932 he married Ina May Spivey (d. One of the top-ten box office draws of the day, whose character was soon depicted in comic books, on screen Allen personified the clean cut, God-fearing American hero of the wild west who wore a white Stetson, loved his faithful horse named "Koko" and had a loyal buddy who shared his adventures. In 1995 he sold a quarter share of the team to The Walt Disney Company, and a controlling interest the following year, with the remaining share to be transferred after his death. Beginning in 1950, Allen starred as himself in nineteen of Hollywood's western movies. The team, initially called the Los Angeles Angels upon its 1961 debut, moved to suburban Anaheim in 1966 and became known as the California Angels, then the Anaheim Angels from 1997.

When singing cowboys such as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were very much in vogue in American film, in 1949 Republic Pictures in Hollywood gave him a screen test and put him under contract. In 1960, when Major League Baseball announced plans to add an expansion team in Los Angeles, Autry – who had once declined an opportunity to play in the minor leagues – expressed an interest in acquiring the radio broadcast rights to the team's games; baseball executives were so impressed by his approach that he was persuaded to become the owner of the franchise rather than simply its broadcast partner. " In 1948 he signed with Mercury Records where he recorded a number of successful country music albums until 1952 when he switched to the Decca label where he would continue making records into the 1970s. Post-retirement he invested widely in real estate, radio and television; in 1982 he sold television station KTLA (Los Angeles) for $245 million. He got his start in show business on the East Coast as a vaudeville singer then found work in Chicago as a performer on the WLS Radio program, "National Barn Dance. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969. Born Rex Elvie Allen on a ranch in Mud Springs Canyon, forty miles from Wilcox, Arizona, Rex Allen would grow up to become a popular entertainer known as the "The Arizona Cowboy." As a boy he played guitar and sang at local functions with his fiddle-playing father until high school graduation when he toured the southwest as a rodeo rider. He retired from show business in 1964, having made almost a hundred films up to 1955 and over 600 records.

Rex Allen, born December 31, 1920 - died December 17, 1999, was an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He also starred and produced his own television show on CBS from 1950. He briefly returned to Republic after the war before moving to Columbia in 1947. From 1940 to 1956, Autry also had a weekly radio show on CBS, Gene Autry's Melody Ranch. Another money-spinner was his Gene Autry Flying "A" Ranch Rodeo show which first aired in 1940. He was the first of the singing cowboys, succeeded as the top star by Roy Rogers when Autry served as a flier with the Air Transport command during World War II.

He became the top Western star at the box-office by 1937, reaching his national peak of popularity from 1940 to 1942. He went on to make a further 44 films up to 1940, all B westerns in which he played under his own name, rode his horse Champion and had many opportunities to sing. In 1934 he made his film debut for Republic Pictures in In Old Santa Fe; his first name role came in 1935 in the 13-part The Phantom Empire. His first hit was in 1932 with "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine", a duet with fellow railroad man Jimmy Long.

He signed a recording deal with Columbia Records in 1931, and worked at NBC's WLS National Barn Dance in Chicago for four years with his own show. After an encouraging chance encounter with Will Rogers, he began performing on local radio in 1928 as Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy. An amateur talent with the guitar and voice led to his performing at local dances. Louis and San Francisco Railroad.

After leaving high school in 1925, Autry worked as a telegrapher for the St. Born as Orvon Gene Autry in Tioga, Texas, his family moved to Ravia, Oklahoma in the 1920s. Gene Autry (September 29, 1907 - October 2, 1998) was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television. "Frosty the Snow Man" (1950).

"Peter Cottontail" (1950). "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1949). "Here Comes Santa Claus" (1947). "Be Honest With Me".

"Back in the Saddle Again" (1939). "South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)". "Gold Mine in the Sky". "Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddle".

"Mexicali Rose". "Tumbling Tumbleweeds". "Cowboy’s Heaven". "The Last Roundup".

"That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine".