Arabella & CO

	We Will Never Forget September 11th, 2001 "....and now may the blessing of God Almighty rest on this whole land. May he give us light to guide us, courage to support us, charity to unite us. Now and forever more." Franklin Delano Roosevelt (11/6/1944) (and recalled by Nelson Eddy in his tribute to his fallen president 4/15/1945)
	...And We Will Not Forget February 1st, 2003 Our seven fallen heroes on "Columbia" who had the courage to reach for the stars and, in doing so, found the outstretched arms of God.

Gene Autry
America's #1 Cowboy!
September 29th, 1907 - October 2nd, 1998

Gene Autry was the first actor to achieve stardom in westerns by singing! Who knew? After all, in the early Westerns the hero didn't even talk. Ken Maynard sang in some of his later films after his career was well established (not well, I might add).. Even John Wayne was cast as "Singing Sandy" Saunders in a few 5-reel Monogram Westerns but, when they found out Big John couldn't carry a tune in a saddlebag, they dubbed in the music.

Gene Autry was the first actor, cowboy or otherwise, to get 5 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.....films, radio, television, records and live concerts. When he wasn't on the set, he was on the radio or on tour. Friends often worried that he would burn out. But Gene had two secrets....love what you do and cat-nap!

And Gene was probably the only one ever named to the "America's Ten Best-Dressed Men" list who never wore shoes! And the only flight officer in the Army Air Corps who had permission to wear cowboy boots as part of his uniform!

Orvon Gene Autry was born to Delbert and Elnora Ozmont Autry on September 29, 1907 near Tioga, Texas.* His father was in the stock business (cows and horses) and it was usually just like that other stock business( sometimes bull and sometimes bare) so that money was often an issue at home. The family moved a lot back and forth across the Texas-Oklahoma border as finances waxed and waned.. Grandpa Autry, a Baptist minister, taught Gene to sing at an early age("he needed another soprano in the church choir") and Elnora taught him to play the guitar( he bought an $8 Sears model with the money earned baling hay). He learned so well that by his mid-teens that he got a summer job touring with the Fields Brothers Marvelous Medicine Show playing and singing while Professor Fields peddled his "Field's Pain Annihilator".

After high school, Gene went to work for the railroad and took correspondence courses in accounting and Morse Code to further his ambition (something Gene had by the train-full!). He was a relief operator for the Frisco Line in Oklahoma, whiling away the slack hours singing and playing, when he met a customer that would give him something else to think about... Will Rogers!. Rogers, after listening awhile, told Gene he could make more money singing than clicking out dots and dashes. " You oughta think about going to New York and getting a job on the radio".** It took Gene another year to take his advice.

The first trip to New York would have been a bust if it hadn't been for Gene's meeting with brothers Johnny and Frankie Marvin, the composer and steel guitarist, and the first of a cortege of friends who would work with him a lifetime. He returned home, won a spot on a Tulsa radio
station as "Oklahoma's Yodelin' Cowboy" and met Jimmy Long, a fellow telegrapher and another spoke in his wheel of fortune. Gene and Jimmy would write some great songs together and, in 1932, one of those songs would become Gene's first hit record "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine"! It was also the same year that Gene met and married Jimmy's niece, Ina Mae Spivey, after a whirlwind courtship. It was a marriage that would last for 48 years. By then, Gene was on the fast track....as a cast member of Chicago's WLS "National Barn Dance" and his own radio program on the same station. And, while on tour, he met another pal, Lester "Smiley" Burnette*** and, with Ina and Smiley , Gene headed west to Hollywood. While they were tootling along the highway, Gene and Smiley wrote "Ridin' Down the Canyon"! "Smiley" would become the first comic sidekick in Western movies!.

At the same time out west in Tinseltown, Herbert Yates was consolidating a bunch of small film companies (Monogram and Mascot among them) into what would eventually become Republic Pictures. Yates also thought that Western films were becoming run-of-the-mill and a singing cowboy may be just the jolt they needed. Gene's success with record sales made him the likely choice for that role even without acting experience.. What Yates didn't know at the time was that Gene Autry would be the lifeline for Republic Pictures!

After small parts in two Ken Maynard flicks they liked what they saw and Gene was set for the lead in "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds".A new genre of Western was born with Gene Autry's stamp on it. In every picture (except one where he plays a dual role and one on loan-out to 20th Century Fox ), Gene played "Gene Autry" a cowboy with a code*** who never shot first and rarely ever killed the bad guys. He just put them out of action until the law took over!

Then, in 1937, the first crack appeared in the Republic firmament. Gene realized he was being grossly underpaid and found it was partly due to the current practice of block booking (distributors had to buy a package of inferior films to get one star feature, namely an Autry western). This practice was later declared illegal and the right to purchase was given back to the small theater owners.. Gene couldn't budge Yates so he walked.....into a half-hour radio show called "Melody Ranch"sponsored by Wrigley Gum. Waiting in the wings at Republic was Leonard Slye, who had come to California as a migratory fruit picker and parlayed his singing talent into a place with the Sons of the Pioneers. Herbert Yates vowed Sly would now become Gene's replacement....as Roy Rogers!" But the fans wanted Autry back and eventually Yates had to comply, so the studio ended up with two singing cowboys. After that, things settled down until Gene decided, after Pearl Harbor, he was needed more in the defense of his country. Yates warned him there may be no career when he got back and he should try for a deferment. Gene declined and was sworn in on his radio show!

During the four years with the Air Transport Command (1942-1946), Gene reflected on the sad way many of the older western stars ended up, many of them unemployed and penniless and he cannily began to set up his insurance policy against poverty. He bought up the rights to his songs(as later he would do with his films), bought two radio stations and applied for a television license for one of them. He had become what I would call a "root-cellar" entrepreneur...you start with the seed potatoes and nurture them into the eatin' crop! He also began to sense he was having a problem with alcohol, a soldier's answer to loneliness and recreation. Gene never stopped having a drink occasionally but began to avoid places and events where drinking could become problematic.

When Gene got out of the Army, he made 6 more films for Republic Pictures and then took his
own company " Gene Autry Productions" to Columbia Studios where he still played "Gene Autry". In 1949 he hit paydirt again with his recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". By the time he had made his final film " The Last of the Pony Riders"( his 93rd) in 1953, Gene was already established on television with "The Gene Autry Show" (aka "Melody Ranch") with 91 episodes from 1950 to 1955. Add to that, his Flying A Productions produced "The Range Rider", "Buffalo Bill, Jr.", "The Adventures of Champion" and "Annie Oakley" as well as episodes of "Death Valley Days" .Today the property he bought, and where his television series was filmed, is still used (both "Gunsmoke" and"Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" were filmed there). He accumulated hotels, cattle ranches, oil wells, a baseball team (the California Angels) rodeo stock and radio and television stations, enough to rival Randolph Scott as the richest man in Hollywood history. And, in 2002, four years after his death, his beloved baseball team, now the Anaheim Angels, came out of obscurity to win the World Series!

The trail wasn't always clear of obstacles..Gene's problem with alcohol and a brief affair with leading lady Gail Davis were rough spots along the way. But his marriage to Ina May lasted until her death in 1980 and Gene remarried in 1981 at the age of 74 to Jacqueline Ellam, a 17 year union that lasted until his death at 91. Together, Gene and Jackie realized a dream of a museum to house authentic Western memorabilia including his own personal collection. The Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum opened in 1988 in Los Angeles , California.

Sadly, those cowboys of yesteryear are all gone now. Some folks even say the Westerns are dead.

But if you look carefully, you'll find Gene and Champion still riding down the trail with Smiley by his side and singing all those great old songs. All of it has been preserved on film. Gene Autry made sure of that!

*
**
*** find all these and more anecdotes about Gene Autry and his movies in Arabella's Notes.

For a list of my sources and research materials, e-mail me at ......MamaLion27@aol.com

I wish to thank Christine Souter for her invaluable assistance and the use of her movie still collection in the development of this project.

In Old Santa Fe (1934)
Phantom Empire (1935)
Tumbling Tumbleweeds (1935)
Melody Trail (1935)
Sagebrush Troubadour (1935)
Singing Vagabond (1935)
Red River Valley (1936)
Comin' Round the Mountain (1936)
Guns and Guitars (1936)
Oh, Susanna (1936)
Ride, Ranger, Ride (1936)
The Big Show (1936)
The Old Corral (1936)
Roundup Time in Texas (1937)
Git Along, Little Dogies (1937)
Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm (1937)
Yodelin' Kid From Pine Ridge (1937)
Public Cowboy No.1 (1937)
Boots and Saddles (1937)
Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937)
The Old Barn Dance (1938)
Gold Mine in the Sky (1938)
Man From Music Mountain (1938)
Prairie Moon (1938)
Rhythm of the Saddle (1938)
Western Jamboree (1938)
Home on the Prairie (1939)
Mexicali Rose (1939)
Blue Montana Skies (1939)
Mountain Rhythm (1939)
Colorado Sunset (1939)
In Old Monterey (1939)
Rovin' Tumbleweeds (1939)
South of the Border (1939)
Rancho Grande (1940)
Shooting High (1940)
Gaucho Serenade (1940)
Carolina Moon (1940)
Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride (1940)
Melody Ranch (1940)
Ridin' on a Rainbow (1941)
Back in the Saddle (1941)
The Singing Hill (1941)
Sunset in Wyoming (1941)

Under Fiesta Stars (1941)
Down Mexico Way (1941)
Sierra Sue (1941)
Cowboy Serenade (1942)
Heart of the Rio Grande (1942)
Home in Wyomin" (1942)
Stardust on the Sage (1942)
Call of the Canyon (1942)
Bells of Capistrano (1942)
Sioux City Sue (1946)
Trail to San Antone (1947)
Twilight on the Rio Grande (1947)
Saddle Pals (1947)
Robin Hood of Texas (1947)
The Last Round-up (1947)
The Strawberry Roan (1948)
Loaded Pistols (1949)
The Big Sombrero (1949)
Riders of the Whistling Pines (1949)
Rim of the Canyon (1949)
The Cowboy and the Indians (1949)
Riders in the Sky (1949)
Sons of New Mexico (1950)
Mule Train (1950)
Cow Town (1950)
Beyond the Purple Hills (1950)
Indian Territory (1950)
The Blazing Sun (1950)
Gene Autry and the Mounties (1951)
Whirlwind (1951)
Silver Canyon (1951)
Hills of Utah (1951)
Valley of Fire (1951)
The Old West (1952)
Night Stage to Galveston (1952)
Apache Country (1952)
Barbed Wire (1952)
Wagon Team (1952)
Blue Canadian Rockies (1952)
Winning of the West (1953)
On top of Old Smoky (1953)
Goldtown Ghost Riders (1953)
Pack Train (1953)
Saginaw trail (1953)
Last of the Pony Riders (1953)

America's #1 Sidekick!......Smiley Burnette

Smiley Burnette wrote over 350 songs but he couldn't read a note of music! He once wrote 11 songs in less than an hour!

In an early 1940 Boxoffice magazine poll Smiley was the only "sidekick" to list among the top ten Western stars!

BA (Before Autry)Smiley worked at a radio station (WDZ, Tuscola, Illinois) where he was the chief announcer, manager, entertainer and engineer from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. ( the hours the station was open.) He put on 10 shows a day doing 10 different voices so the people would think there was someone else there besides him! One children's show was titled "Mr, Smiley" and so Lester Alvin Burnette became Smiley Burnette (later he made that his legal name).

Lester Alvin"Smiley" Burnette was born on March 18, 1911 in Summum, Illinois. Both of his parents were ordained ministers and, more often than not, they were paid their small salaries in food. Money was never a staple in the Burnette household but Smiley always remembered there was plenty of love.One thing remained..Smiley always loved to eat ( he became an expert cook and, in 1953 co-authored a cookbook with his wife)

But it was when the family moved to Astoria that he met a neighbor who would let him indulge his love of music.. The man was a musician with a huge collection of over 100 musical instruments and Smiley learned to play every one of them including the musical saw! But he loved the accordion and it became his instrument of choice!

After he left school in the 9th grade, Smiley held a wide variety of jobs, making enough money to help out at home but never getting him anywhere until he got the job at the radio station. It was there he met Gene Autry and within 48 hours he was in Chicago on the "National Barn Dance" (see Arabella's Notes) In 1934, Smiley, Gene and Gene's wife Ina May piled into the car and headed for Hollywood. Smiley spent the trip in the back seat writing songs."

In 1936 Smiley met and married Dallas MacDonnell, a Hollywood columnist, a marriage that lasted until his death of leukemia on February 16th, 1967. They had four adopted children.

Smiley Burnette created the prototype of the comic western sidekick. "Frog Millhouse" , the lovable saddle pal who always went along for the ride, bumbling into trouble and sometimes causing the hero more trouble than the bad guys What would Westerns have done
without him!"

A personal note:

I met Smiley Burnette many years ago on a bitter cold day in Pittsburgh. I was 16 and getting autographs of my favorite stars was my passion. He was appearing in the stage show of a downtown theater and I was one of three eager but freezing teenagers standing outside the stage door. When the door suddenly opened and one of the stagehands appeared, we were prepared to run (stage hands didn't approve of autograph hounds) but he beckoned for us to come inside. Astonishment turned to awe when Smiley not only greeted us graciously but ordered up a round of hot chocolates to warm us up.He talked and told stories about his life in Hollywood while we sipped our toddies, gave us the autographs and then firmly ordered us to go home out of the cold. I never forgot that warm, friendly man. Wherever you are, Smiley, you are still in my thoughts

The cowboy who invented himself!...

Tom Mix, the legendary first "King of the Cowboys", made over 330 films (only 9 with sound) from 1909 to 1940, wore flashy outfits on and off screen and boasted of a life of adventure and derring-do. According to Tom, he was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of a cavalry officer, educated at VMI, a hero of the Spanish-American War and the Boxer Rebellion, and last but not least, a Texas ranger!. The truth? 'King" Tom was born in Mix Run, PA. to a lumberman, quit school in the fourth grade and was listed as a deserter from the Army in 1902. Tom Mix was killed in an weird accident in 1940 on a highway in the Arizona desert. While speeding around a sharp curve in his roadster,a suitcase flew forward from the back seat crushing his head."

Reality Show!
During the filming of the first epic western "The Covered Wagon" (1923), Famous Players hired native Arapahos as extras while filming on location. One of the enterprising braves, taking the script at its words, offered his services during one scene where the female lead was supposed to be shot during an Indian ambush. "Very good., shoot arrow through lady's shoulder. Not hurt much, not break bone. Go right through!" The director graciously declined. The star fainted!

Go West, young man....
With the exception of Gene Autry, most of the cowboy legends were born far from the lone prairie.

G.M."Bronco Billy" Anderson was born Max Aronson in Little Rock, Arkansas. (Close but no cigar) Buck Jones answered to the name of Charles Frederick Gephart in Vincennes, Indiana.
Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson headed west from Takamah, Nebraska.
William S. Hart was born in Newburgh, New York.
Kenneth Olin Maynard became just "Ken" long after he was born in Vevay, Indiana.
Roy Rogers was Leonard Slye in Cincinnati, Ohio.
George Randolph Scott hailed from Orange, Virginia
and big John Wayne was Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa.

Email me!

Ask questions! Make comments! Talk to me!
Use email link above or post a question to my guestbook

...from Robert Ragan, Chester, Illinois

"What do you know about Blanche Yurka? My wife and I saw her in "The Song of Bernadette". What else did she do?"

Blanche Yurka appeared in over 20 films after a very successful career on the Broadway stage (including her portrayal of Queen Gertrude to John Barrymore's "Hamlet" in 1922).
It was a far cry from the little girl in St. Paul. Minnesota whose immigrant father ravaged the family finances just to get the 75 cents needed for her singing lessons! But the intended opera career was short-lived when she found greater success as a dramatic actress. Blanche made her film debut as "Madame Defarge" in "Tale of Two Cities" and, throughout her life, it was the only role she would discuss. But look for her as the concentration camp nurse in "Escape" (1940), Mrs. Taylor in "Keeper of the Flame", the Abbess in "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" and Mrs. Thillot in "13 Rue Madeleine". Blanche completed her autobiography "Bohemian Girl" in 1970 four years before her death in 1974 at the age of 87.

Arabella

...from Adrienne Charnofsky
from New York City

"Is it true that there are two Harrison Fords? I am in love with the "Indiana Jones" Harrison Ford! Who is the imposter and what did he ever do?"

Well, the "non-Indiana" Harrison Ford couldn't very well be an imposter since he was born in 1892, 40 years before that "Jones" boy! Harrison Ford #1 was the handsome idol of silent films playing opposite the most glamourous stars of the era. His 80 films included "Romance and Arabella"(1919) with Constance Talmadge... "Smilin' Through" (1922) with Norma Talmadge...."Maytime" (1923) with Clara Bow and "Zander the Great" (1925)
with Marion Davies. He retired from films in 1932 and died in 1957 at the age of 73. The two Fords were not related.

Arabella

...from Dayla Russell, Glenshaw, PA.

"My boyfriend and I are arguing about Leo Carrillo. I say he was born in California and my guy says he was born in Mexico and came here as a young boy. Who's right? By the way, we are big fans of classic films."

You are! Leo was born right here in Los Angeles on August 6th, 1880. In fact, his great-grandfather was the first governor of California in 1837! Leo started out as a leading man in films but his comedic ability and dialectic talents took him in another direction and he became Hollywood's busiest character actor. Duncan Renaldo (The Cisco Kid) said of Leo (Pancho): "..his accent was so exaggerated that when we finished a picture no one could talk normal English anymore!" Leo was over 70 years old when he began chasing after bad guys in "The Cisco Kid" and was 81 when he died in 1961.

Arabella