Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry[2] (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998),[3] nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades, beginning in the early 1930s.

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.

[4] In addition to his signature song "Back in the Saddle Again", as well as his recording hit "At Mail Call Today", Autry is still remembered for his association with Christmas music, having debuted the seasonal standards "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman", and "Here Comes Santa Claus".

He 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.

While working as a telegraph operator in Chelsea, Oklahoma, Autry would sing and accompany himself on the guitar to pass the lonely hours, especially when he had the midnight shift.

In the autumn of 1928, he auditioned for the Victor Talking Machine Company, shortly before purchase by David Sarnoff's Radio Corporation of America (RCA).

Autry left with a letter of introduction from Shilkret and the advice to sing on radio to gain experience and to come back in a year or two.

In his early recording career, Autry covered various genres, including a labor song, "The Death of Mother Jones", in 1931.

The label's biggest hit was "Tequila" by The Champs in 1958, which started the rock and roll instrumental craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Together, Autry and Burnette made their film debut for Mascot Pictures Corp. in In Old Santa Fe as part of a singing cowboy quartet; he was then given the starring role by Levine in 1935 in the 12-part serial The Phantom Empire.

Most were low-budget Westerns in which he played under his own name, rode his horse Champion, had Smiley Burnette as his regular sidekick, and had many opportunities to sing in each film.

Part of his military service included his broadcast of a radio show for one year; it involved music and true stories.

Autry purchased the 110-acre Monogram Ranch in 1953, in Placerita Canyon near Newhall, California, in the northern San Gabriel Mountains foothills.

Numerous "B" Westerns and TV shows were shot there during Autry's ownership, including the initial years of Gunsmoke with James Arness.

A decade after he purchased Melody Ranch, a brushfire swept through in August 1962, destroying most of the original standing sets and dashing Autry's plans to turn it into a museum.

These tenets promoting an ethical, moral, and patriotic lifestyle that appealed to youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts, which developed similar doctrines.

The Cowboy Code consisted of rules that were "a natural progression of Gene's philosophies going back to his first Melody Ranch programs—and early pictures.

Assigned to a unit of the Air Transport Command, he flew as part of the dangerous airlift operation over the Himalayas between India and China, nicknamed the Hump.

[27][28] In 1941, at the height of his screen popularity, Autry had a string of rodeo stock based north of Ardmore, Oklahoma.

In 1954, he acquired Montana's top bucking string from the estate of Leo J. Cremer Sr., and put Canadian saddle bronc riding champion Harry Knight in charge of the operation.

For his work as a livestock contractor, Autry was inducted into the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.

The Register and Tribune Syndicate comic strip Gene Autry Rides by Till Goodan was the first entry, lasting from 1940 to 1941.

The toy was commissioned by Kenton vice-president Willard Bixler, who had conceptualized an iron cap revolver modeled after the pearl-handled gun used by Gene Autry.

When the Angels finally won their first (and to date, only) World Series championship in 2002, star outfielder Tim Salmon held Autry's cowboy hat aloft during the on-field celebration, and the public address system played his hit song, "Back in the Saddle Again".

Gene Autry, correctly assessing the company's cash-poor situation, made a cash offer for the rights and negatives to his Republic films.

His epitaph read, "America's Favorite Cowboy ... American Hero, Philanthropist, Patriot and Veteran, Movie Star, Singer, Composer, Baseball Fan and Owner, 33rd Degree Mason, Media Entrepreneur, Loving Husband, Gentleman".

During this marriage he had a sustained affair with Gail Davis, the actress who played Annie Oakley in the television series of the same name that Autry produced.

While Autry was quiet about his political views during his life, his voting records listed him as a registered Republican, and he supported the Civil Rights Movement.

Approximately 35,000 people attended the ceremonies broadcast live from the site on Autry's Melody Ranch radio show.

+ 1,000,000 units sold Since many radio stations in the US adopt a format change to Christmas music each December, many holiday hits have an annual spike in popularity during the last few weeks of the year and are retired once the season is over.