His talent at singing and playing guitar led to performing at local dances. With only his high school education, Autry became a telegrapher for the St. Gene Autry worked on his father's ranch while growing up and going to school. His parents, Delbert Autry and Elnora Ozment, moved in the 1920s to Ravia in Johnston County in southern Oklahoma. Orvon Grover Autry was born September 29, 1907, near Tioga in Grayson County in north Texas, the grandson of a Methodist preacher.

The town of Gene Autry, Oklahoma, was named in his honor, as was the Gene Autry precinct in Mesa, Arizona. In addition to his signature song, ' Back in the Saddle Again' and his hit ' At Mail Call Today', Autry is still remembered for his Christmas songs, most especially his biggest hit ' Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer' as well as ' Frosty the Snowman', ' Here Comes Santa Claus', and ' Up on the House Top'.Īutry is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is the only person to be awarded stars in all five categories on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for film, television, music, radio, and live performance. His singing cowboy films were the first vehicle to carry country music to a national audience. Autry was also one of the most important pioneering figures in the history of country music, considered the second major influential artist of the genre's development after Jimmie Rodgers. During the 1930s and 1940s, he personified the straight-shooting hero-honest, brave, and true. He was the founding owner of the California Angels franchise of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1961 to 1997.įrom 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 films, and between 19 hosted The Gene Autry Show television series.

Autry was the owner of a television station and several radio stations in Southern California. Orvon Grover ' Gene' Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s.

Gene autry you are my sunshine