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Biography: Gene Autry

Gene Autry, the archetype of the guitar strumming, singing Hollywood cowboy, is one of American cinema's most beloved figures. Born Orvon Autry, his entry to showbiz has a story book quality. During the 1920s he was working as a telegraph operator when American folk hero Will Rogers overheard him singing and convinced him to give show business a try. By 1928 he was singing regularly on a small radio station. Three years later, he was starring in his own national radio show (The National Barn Dance) and making records for Columbia. He first made his mark in films starring roles in the 13-part Republic serial Phantom Empire (1935) and the movie Tumblin' Tumbleweeds (1935). Then he went on to make dozens of Westerns, usually with his famed horse Champion and his comic sidekick Smiley Burnette. He was the top Western star at the box office from 1937-42, and is the only Western actor ever to make the list of Hollywood's top ten attractions, an achievement attained in 1940, '41, and '42. His career was interrupted by service in World War II (he served as a flight officer), during which his place was supplanted at Republic by singing cowboy Roy Rogers. Between 1947 and 1954, now working for Columbia Pictures, Autry trailed behind Rogers as the second most popular western star. His films focus exclusively on action, with little romantic interest. Autry's special twist, though, was to pause from time to time for an easy-going song, creating a new genre of action films that is considered by film historians to constitute a revolution in B-movies (one that went on to have many imitators). As a recording artist, he had nine million-sellers; and as a songwriter, he penned 200 popular songs including the holiday classic "Here Comes Santa Claus." After 20 years as a singing cowboy, Autry retired from movies in 1954 to further his career as a highly successful businessman (among many other investments, he eventually bought the California Angels, a major league baseball team). However, he continued performing on television until the '60s. In 1978 he published his autobiography Back in the Saddle Again, titled after his signature song. ~ All Movie Guide less

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The Last of the Pony Riders (1953)
Tags: Musical Western Western
Length: 59min
Last of the Pony Riders was also the last theatrical starring feature of singing cowboy Gene Autry. This time, Autry plays a troubleshooter for the Pony Express who hopes to keep the West safe for the mail riders so that a new stagecoach line can be...
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Alias Jesse James (1959)
Cast: Roy Rogers Bob Hope Jay Silverheels Gary Cooper Bing Crosby Rhonda Fleming
Tags: Comedy Western Comedy
Length: 92min
Bob Hope plays a 19th-century insurance agent whose miserable sales record prompts his boss to send him out West, where he can (supposedly) do little harm. Hope manages to sell a 100,000 life insurance policy--to outlaw Jesse James (Wendell Corey),...
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Winning of the West (1953)
Tags: Western Musical Musical Western
Length: 57min
Winning of the West was Gene Autry's first western vehicle for 1953. It was also one of Autry's better offerings, with the star cast as a territorial ranger with an uncharacteristically nasty streak. When a local newspaper publisher is slain by an...
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Goldtown Ghost Riders (1953)
Tags: Musical Western Western
Length: 57min
The title of this Gene Autry opus is almost as long as the film itself. This time, Autry plays a circuit judge who presides over a murder case in a mining town. The accused, Ed Wheeler (Kirk Riley), has confessed to the killing, and is undeniably...
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The Old West (1952)
Cast: Gene Autry
Tags: B-Western Western Musical Western
Length: 61min
Gene Autry was clearly tiring of the rigors of moviemaking by the time he starred in The Old West. Even so, Autry gives his all to this story of frontier religiosity. Left for dead in an outlaw ambush, Gene is nursed back to health by a travelling...
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Pack Train (1953)
Tags: Musical Western Western
Length: 57min
Gene Autry's summer release for 1953 was the 56-minute Pack Train. In this one, Autry is assigned to safely transport supplies to a band of settlers. The villains, headed by Ross McLain (Kenne Duncan), intend to bushwhack Autry, grab the supplies, and...
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Night Stage to Galveston (1952)
Tags: Musical Western Western
Length: 61min
Gene Autry and Pat Buttram are innovatively cast as Gene Autry and Pat Buttram in Night Stage to Galveston. Set during the wild-and-wooly days when the Texas Rangers were supplanted by various local corrupt police officials, the story finds Gene at...
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Saginaw Trail (1953)
Cast: Smiley Burnette
Tags: Musical Western Western
Length: 56min
Saginaw Trail is a rare "mid-western" from Gene Autry. Set in 1827, the story takes place in the wilds of Michigan. Autry plays an officer in Hamilton's Rangers, determined to bring scurrilous fur-trapper Jules Brissac (Eugene Borden) to justice. To...
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Apache Country (1952)
Tags: Western Musical Western
Length: 62min
The "B"-western field of the 1950s was laid low by increasing budgets and decreasing box-office appeal. Gene Autry's series for Columbia was still turning a profit in 1952, but films like Apache Country were a lot stingier-looking than his earlier...
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Wagon Team (1952)
Tags: Musical Western Western
Length: 61min
Gene Autry goes undercover once again in this rather pedestrian western from Columbia Pictures. Suspecting jailed youth Dave Weldon (Dick Jones) of complicity in an army payroll heist, special investigator Autry has himself jailed. He quickly...
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Gene Autry

Biography: Gene Autry

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