After high school Gene Autry worked as a laborer for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad in Oklahoma. Next he was a telegrapher. In 1928 he began singing on a local radio station, and three years later he had his own show and was making his first recordings. Three years after that he made his film debut in Ken Maynard's In Old Santa Fe and starred in a 13-part serial the following year for Mascot Pictures, The Phantom Empire. The next year he signed a contract with Republic Pictures and began making westerns. Autry--for better or worse--pretty much ushered in the era of the "singing cowboy" westerns of the 1930s and 1940s (in spite of the presence in his oaters of automobiles, radios and airplanes). These films often grossed ten times their average $50,000 production costs. During World War II he enlisted in the US Army and was assigned as a flight officer from 1942-46 with the Air Transport Command. After his military service he returned to making movies, this time with Columbia Pictures, and finally with his own company, Flying A Productions, which, during the 1950s, produced his TV series The Gene Autry Show, The Adventures of Champion, and Annie Oakley. He wrote over 200 songs. A savvy businessman, he retired from acting in the early 1960s and became a multi-millionaire from his investments in hotels, real estate, radio stations and the California Angels professional baseball team.


Shooting High (1940): $25,000
The Phantom Empire (1935): $150/week

His first hit record was "That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine" in 1932. He has five stars in the Hollywood Walk Of Fame; for Recording, Movies, TV, Radio, and live theater. Interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA, in the Sheltering Hills section, Grave #1048. Grandson of an itinerant preacher, he became a multi-millionaire through his investments and real estate holdings. Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1972. More than 50 years after the last Gene Autry western, he is better known to later generations as a singer. His remastered vintage recordings of "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" remain very popular holiday standards into the 21st century. Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 19-22. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. During the war, he was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. In response to his millions of young fans who wanted to be like Gene Autry, he developed a code of conduct, "The Cowboy Code", which is as follows: 1. The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage. 2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him. 3. He must always tell the truth. 4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals. 5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas. 6. He must help people in distress. 7. He must be a good worker. 8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits. 9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation's laws. 10. The Cowboy is a patriot. On January 1st, 1942, the small town of Berwyn (Carter County, Oklahoma) changed its name and became 'Gene Autry'. He was awarded 5 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6644 Hollywood Boulevard; Radio at 6520 Hollywood Boulevard; Recording at 6384 Hollywood Boulevard; Television at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard; and Life Theatre at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Once tried to open a restaurant in Chicago. Local Mafia chieftains demanded a cut for their "permission" to start business. Autry refused to pay up. On the opening night gangsters appeared and told the staff to leave, and then destroyed the entire restaurant. Autry closed down and returned to the west coast.