Roy Rogers - Wikipedia

TThank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that November 5 is the anniversary of the birth of American singer and actor Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye) who was known as the "King of the Cowboys" and he appeared in over 100 films and numerous radio and television episodes of The Roy Rogers Show.

Roy Rogers American Legend Biography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcSecj7YDhw

Images:
1. Dale Evans, Trigger, Roy Rogers.
2. Sons of the Pioneers 'Roy Rogers (as Leonard Slye) (1933–37) lead vocals, guitar; Bob Nolan (1933–49) baritone vocals, bass; Tim Spencer (1933–36, 1938–49) tenor and lead vocals; Hugh Farr (1934–59) bass vocals, fiddle; Karl Farr (1935–61) lead guitar; Lloyd Perryman (1936–43, 1946–77) tenor and lead vocals, guitar, 1st Trail Boss; Pat Brady (1937–43, 1946–49, 1959–68) bass
3. Roy and his family in 1955. (L-R) Roy 'Dusty' Rogers Jr., Roy, Mimi, Sandy, Linda, Dale and Dodie.
4. Roy and Dale at the 1989 Academy Awards.

Biographies
1. alancackett.com/roy-rogers-biography
2. imdb.com/name/nm0001678/bio

1. Background from alancackett.com/roy-rogers-biography
Roy Rogers
"A major western movie star between 1938 and 1953, and known as the ‘King of the Cowboys,’ Roy Rogers, was one of the most popular of all the singing cowboys. With his horse Trigger and frequent female partner Dale Evans (whom he married in 1947), Roy was the personification of the hero in the white hat who rid the West of the bad guy in the black hat. All of his films were notable for their strong musical content, provided by Roy and Dale with occasional help from the Sons Of The Pioneers. He soon became Gene Autry’s main rival as the most popular singing cowboy, starring in over 100 movies and hosting his own TV show throughout the 1950s. He recorded prolifically with the Sons Of The Pioneers during the 1930s, then once he had launched his own career, he started recording as a solo artist, initially for RCA, and later for Capitol, 20th Century and gospel label Word, making records right through to the early 1990s when he joined contemporary country acts like Clint Black, Randy Travis, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson and Kathy Mattea on a special tribute album that produced his last country hit, Hold On Partner. Estimated to be worth more than 100 million dollars, at the peak of his career Roy was earning more than a million dollars a year. His horse Trigger appeared in 87 films and 101 TV shows with the popular cowboy star. The horse knew at least one hundred tricks and at one time was receiving at least one thousand fan letters a week. Roy bought Trigger for $80 and refused offers of $150,000 for him. When his beloved palomino died, he had him stuffed and mounted at the Rogers’ ranch in California.

He was born Leonard Franklin Slye on November 5, 1911, near Cincinnati, Ohio. His biggest early musical influence was his father, who played mandolin and guitar. He grew up working on his family’s farm and following high school became employed in a local shoe factory. In his teens he began singing and playing at local dances before moving west in 1930. After stints with such groups as The Rocky Mountaineers and The Hollywood Hillbillies, he formed his own band, The International Cowboys. Later—with the aid of Tim Spencer and Bob Nolan—he founded The Pioneer Trio, which changed its name to The Sons Of The Pioneers in 1934. A cowboy and western harmony group that enjoyed success with such western ballads as Tumbling Tumblewweds, Cool Water and Way Out There. Rogers first recorded for Decca with The Sons Of The Pioneers, beginning in 1934, ten years before the first national country charts were launched. After splitting with the group in 1937, his first major solo release, Hi-Yo Silver was released in 1938. The 1940s found him on RCA Victor, where he inked his first chart entry with A Little White Cross On The Hill, which peaked at number seven in 1946. His biggest hit, My Chickashay Gal, came the following year.

Always seeking other avenues for his talent, Leonard Slye began playing bit parts in films, first under the name of Dick Weston and then assuming the guise of Roy Rogers. He gained a starring role in Under Western Skies in 1938, and soon followed with Carson Cisco Kid, Robin Hood Of The Pecos, The Man From Music Mountain and Along The Navajo Trail. In 1944, Rogers teamed with actress-singer Dale Evans (born Frances Octavia Smith) in Cowboy And The Senorita. Evans became Rogers’ frequent co-star and wrote their theme song, Happy Trails To You. They were to marry in 1947 and went on to raise a large family, also adopting several children. Considered the most popular woman ever to appear in Western movies, Dale was the ‘Queen of the Cowgirls’ to Rogers, the ‘King of the Cowboys.’ She rode her horse, Buttermilk, beside him on his celebrated palomino, Trigger. When the B-Western movies faded in the early 1950s, they began their television career. The Roy Rogers Show ran from 1951 to 1957; later incarnations included The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, in 1962, and Happy Trails Theatre, a show of repackaged Rogers and Evans movies on cable TV’s Nashville Network in the late 1980s. Dale and Roy recorded more than 400 songs together. Rogers’ business ventures included a chain of restaurants bearing his name and a radio show carried on more than five hundred stations on the Mutual network. He is the only performer twice elected to the Country Music Hall Of Fame: as part of the Sons of the Pioneers in 1980 and as an individual in 1988. He received the Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music in 1986 and has garnered countless other accolades. In the later years of his life, Rogers enjoyed greeting visitors at the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum, which the couple established in 1965 in Victorville, California. One of the exhibits is Trigger, whom Rogers had stuffed when he died. In 1991 he came out of semi-retirement to participate in an RCA tribute album that spawned Hold On Partner, a duet hit with Clint Black.

Roy Rogers, the cowboy star who helped create global images of the American West and taught several generations of youngsters ‘the cowboy way,’ died July 6, 1998 at his home in Apple Valley, California. His wife and co-star Dale Evans, was with him when he died. ‘Roy Rogers was a wonderful human being,’ she said in a prepared statement. ‘What a blessing to have shared my life together with him for almost 51 years. To say I will miss him is a gross understatement. He was truly the King of Cowboys in my life.’ Dale passed away less than three years later on February 7, 2001."


2. Background from imdb.com/name/nm0001678/bio
"Overview
Born November 5, 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Died July 6, 1998 in Apple Valley, California, USA (congestive heart failure)
Birth Name Leonard Franklin Slye
Nicknames: Buck; King of the West; King of the Cowboys
Height 5' 10½" (1.79 m)

Mini Bio
Roy Rogers (born Leonard Slye) moved to California in 1930, aged 18. He played in such musical groups as The Hollywood Hillbillies, Rocky Mountaineers, Texas Outlaws, and his own group, the International Cowboys. In 1934 he formed a group with Bob Nolan called Sons of the Pioneers. While in that group he was known as Leonard Slye, then Dick Weston. Their songs included "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds". They first appeared in the western Rhythm on the Range (1936), starring Bing Crosby and Martha Raye. In 1936 he appeared as a bandit opposite Gene Autry in "The Old Coral". In 1937 Rogers went solo from "The Sons Of The Pioneeres", and made his first starring film in 1938, Under Western Stars (1938). He made almost 100 films. The Roy Rogers Show (1951) ran on NBC from October 1951 through 1957 and on CBS from 1961 to September 1964. In 1955, 67 of his feature films were released to television.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan < [login to see] .edu>

Spouse (3)
Dale Evans (31 December 1947 - 6 July 1998) ( his death) ( 6 children)
Grace Arline Wilkins (11 June 1936 - 3 November 1946) ( her death) ( 3 children)
Lucile Ascolese (8 May 1933 - 8 June 1936) ( divorced)

Trivia (34)
1. The dog who appeared in a few of his films was named Bullet.
2. Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers and elected again in 1988 as Roy Rogers.
3. Nicknames: Roy Rogers "King of the Cowboys", Dale Evans "Queen of the West", Trigger "Smartest Horse in the Movies"
4. There is a Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum at Branson, Missouri.
5. Roy got his horse Trigger in 1938 and rode him in every one of his films and TV shows after that. He had appeared in one earlier movie, ridden by Olivia de Havilland in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Trigger died in 1965 at age 33.
6. Roy's theme song, "Happy Trails", was written by Dale Evans.
7. He had two children and 1 adopted daughter with Arlene Wilkins.
8. He and wife Dale Evans adopted four children, one of whom--Cheryl Rogers--later became an actress. One of his and Dale's daughters died in a bus wreck in Aug. 1964. One adopted son choked to death in Nov. 1965.
9. The little town of Portsmouth, Ohio (USA) also claims to be the hometown of Roy. They also have a little museum with mementoes and hoofprints of Trigger, handprints of Roy and Dusty in the sidewalk in front of the museum. Every year they had a Roy Rogers Day and Roy or Dusty would make an appearance.
10. Once received 78,852 fan letters in a single month.
11. Star of Mutual (1944-1951) and NBC Radio's (1951-1955) "The Roy Rogers Show."
12. His guest appearance on Wonder Woman (1975) in 1977 reflected his real life, as the character he played was a western man who had adopted several children. Roy's conservative side showed through, though, when he insisted to the show's producers that, in order for him to agree to do the episode, series star Lynda Carter needed to wear more clothing than the "bathing suit" type of costume she normally wore. Rogers won out and Carter wore a sleeved solid red top and white chino pants.
13. Inducted (with his wife Dale Evans) into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1976.
14. Inducted (as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers) into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1995.
15. Was a Master Mason. In other words, he became a member of the Masonic Fraternity.
16. Was a strong opponent of gun control, and once appeared in TV commercials put out by the National Rifle Association opposing a proposed ban outlawing certain types of guns in California.
17. Once lived next door to actor Val Kilmer (when Val was a child). When Roy moved, the Kilmers later moved into to his old ranch. Then, in 1999, Val led a Trigger lookalike on stage at the 1999 Academy Awards in honor of Roy Rogers.
18. Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 522-525. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
19. In his autobiography, "Happy Trails: The Story of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans," the former Leonard Slye stated that his stage name of Roy Rogers was given to him by executives at Republic Pictures when he became their new singing cowboy to replace Gene Autry. The Rogers came from Will Rogers, the beloved western comic and storyteller who had recently died in a plane crash in Alaska and Roy was made the first name because it is the French word for "king," as in "Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys." Roy said he had no input at all in the renaming decision.
20. Arline Wilkins, his second wife, died a few days after giving birth to their son, Roy Rogers Jr. (Dusty). She had complications from the cesarean--a blood clot formed, traveled to her brain and killed her. Dale Evans, his third wife, became his children's mom when Dusty was 15 months old. He and Arline had three children: two girls and Dusty.
21. Childhood home was on real estate that later included second base in Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium.
22. His adopted daughter is Little Doe Rogers.
23. Besides his most famous role as Roy Rogers himself, "King of the Cowboys", Roy may be one of the few actors, if not the most famous one, to have played three of the West's greatest legends: Wild Bill Hickok, William F. Cody (aka Buffalo Bill) and Jesse James. Also, in Billy the Kid Returns (1938), he played the slain gunslinger as well.
24. Profiled in "Back in the Saddle: Essays on Western Film and Television Actors", Gary Yoggy, ed. (McFarland, 1998).
25. Rogers was asked to run for Congress on the Republican ticket at one time. He replied, "I have both Democrat and Republican fans and I can't afford to lose any of them!".
26. He was awarded 3 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 1752 Vine Street; for Radio at 1733 Vine Street; and for Television at 1620 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
27. The Sons of the Pioneers were awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6843 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
28. Godfather of Robbie Lee.
29. The Roy Rogers/Dale Evans Museum has closed. All the memorabilia was sold at auction in April and May of 2011.
30. In 1951, several years before the airing of his feature films on TV and just months before the premiere of his long running TV series "The Roy Rogers Show"(1951-57), Roy did TV Ads for "Quaker Oats" and "Mother's Oats" oatmeal. These commercials carried the then unusual slogan, "Quaker and Mother's Oats (oatmeal) are the same". However, things wouldn't remain the same. Following the TV success of "Hopalong Cassidy" feature films,"The Lone Ranger" (1949) and "The Gene Autry Show"(1950), "The Roy Rogers Show" debuted on Dec.30, 1951. "Post Cereals" was the sponsor and Roy's association with "Quaker" and "Mother's Oats" was soon forgotten.
31. His horse, Trigger, would often receive second billing, even above his wife and co-star, Dale Evans.
32. Son of Andrew Slye.
33. He and his third wife Dale Evans were one of three married couples to make guest appearances in The Muppet Show (1976). The other two were Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge and Robert Shields and Lorene Yarnell Jansson.
34. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans had a large family - nine children in all. Dale had one son by a previous marriage, of whom Roy was the step-father. Roy had three children, including one adopted, by a previous marriage, for whom Dale was their step-mother. The couple had a child together and adopted four other children.
Personal Quotes (6)
1. If there were no valleys of sadness and death, we could never really appreciate the sunshine of happiness on the mountain top.
2. When I die, just skin me out and put me up on old Trigger and I'll be happy.
3. [in 1982] Another thing that burns me up is that California voted in capital punishment and they haven't electrocuted anyone yet.
4. [in 1982, when asked about Republic Pictures owner Herbert J. Yates, his boss for many years] I don't want to talk about Yates. Let's just say he wasn't very flexible.
5. [in 1982] Not long after Will Rogers died, they turned his ranch into a museum. And it didn't have anything in it. So I made up my mind I was gonna keep everything.
6. [Advice to his son, Roy Jr. regarding the Roy Rogers Museum] If the museum starts costing you money, then liquidate everything and move on. [The museum closed its doors in December, 2009. The assets were auctioned off at Christie's in July 2010.]
Salary (1)
Under Western Stars (1938)
$75 /week"
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne LTC Bill Koski SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes LTC Wayne Brandon SGT (Join to see) SGT Michael Thorin SGT Cynthia BarnardCapt Sabrena GoldmanSPC Diana D.

I used to love watching his westerns.

Thanks - I loved the Roy Roger show. By the way, add me to the November 5th date. Have a good one Marty.