Chris Enss's Blog - Posts Tagged "cowboys"
The Truth About Roy & Dale
Enter to win a copy of The Cowboy and the Senorita: A Biography of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and Happy Trails: A Pictorial Celebration of the Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.
…that in 1936, Leonard Slye (Roy Rogers) had an unaccredited role as a Sons of the Pioneers guitar player in the Gene Autry’s 1936 film, The Big Show?
…that Roy Rogers hit #7 on the U.S. Country chart in 1946 with "A Little White Cross on the Hill"?
…that actress and singer Dale Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith on October 31, 1912, in Uvalde, Texas.
…that after being discovered by a talent scout, Evans did a screen test for Paramount Pictures, which was considering casting her in Holiday Inn (1942) with Bing Crosby. She didn't get that part, but she soon landed a one-year contract with 20th Century Fox.
…that Evans appeared in the 1942 comedy Girl Trouble with Don Ameche and Billie Burke. She had parts in such musicals as Swing Your Partner (1943) and Hoosier Holiday (1943). Changing studios, Evans moved to Republic and appeared in her first western film, In Old Oklahoma (1943) (the film was later retitled The War of the Wildcats), opposite John Wayne.
Enter to win now and Happy Trails.
…that in 1936, Leonard Slye (Roy Rogers) had an unaccredited role as a Sons of the Pioneers guitar player in the Gene Autry’s 1936 film, The Big Show?
…that Roy Rogers hit #7 on the U.S. Country chart in 1946 with "A Little White Cross on the Hill"?
…that actress and singer Dale Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith on October 31, 1912, in Uvalde, Texas.
…that after being discovered by a talent scout, Evans did a screen test for Paramount Pictures, which was considering casting her in Holiday Inn (1942) with Bing Crosby. She didn't get that part, but she soon landed a one-year contract with 20th Century Fox.
…that Evans appeared in the 1942 comedy Girl Trouble with Don Ameche and Billie Burke. She had parts in such musicals as Swing Your Partner (1943) and Hoosier Holiday (1943). Changing studios, Evans moved to Republic and appeared in her first western film, In Old Oklahoma (1943) (the film was later retitled The War of the Wildcats), opposite John Wayne.
Enter to win now and Happy Trails.
Becoming Dale Evans
Take a chance! Enter to win a copy of The Cowboy and the Senorita: A Biography of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and Happy Trails: A Pictorial Celebration of the Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.
Dale Evans described her upbringing in Uvalde, Texas as “idyllic.” As the only daughter of Walter and Betty Sue Smith, she was showered with attention and her musical talents were encouraged with piano and dance lessons.
While still in high school, she married Thomas Fox and had a son, Thomas Jr. The marriage, however, was short-lived. After securing a divorce, she attended a business school in Memphis and worked as a secretary before making her singing debut at a local radio station. In 1931 she changed her name to Dale Evans.
By the mid 1930s, Dale was a highly sought-after big-band singer performing with orchestras throughout the Midwest. Her stage persona and singing voice earned her a screen test for the 1942 movie Holiday Inn. She didn’t get the part, but she ended up singing with the nationally broadcast radio program the Chase and Sanborn Hour and soon after signed a contract with Republic Studios. She hoped her work in motion pictures would lead to a run on Broadway doing musicals.
Enter to win now and Happy Trails.
Dale Evans described her upbringing in Uvalde, Texas as “idyllic.” As the only daughter of Walter and Betty Sue Smith, she was showered with attention and her musical talents were encouraged with piano and dance lessons.
While still in high school, she married Thomas Fox and had a son, Thomas Jr. The marriage, however, was short-lived. After securing a divorce, she attended a business school in Memphis and worked as a secretary before making her singing debut at a local radio station. In 1931 she changed her name to Dale Evans.
By the mid 1930s, Dale was a highly sought-after big-band singer performing with orchestras throughout the Midwest. Her stage persona and singing voice earned her a screen test for the 1942 movie Holiday Inn. She didn’t get the part, but she ended up singing with the nationally broadcast radio program the Chase and Sanborn Hour and soon after signed a contract with Republic Studios. She hoped her work in motion pictures would lead to a run on Broadway doing musicals.
Enter to win now and Happy Trails.
Becoming Roy Rogers
Act now! Enter to win a copy of The Cowboy and the Senorita: A Biography of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and Happy Trails: A Pictorial Celebration of the Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.
Roy Rogers was born Leonard Franklin Slye on November 5, 1911, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents owned a farm near the small town of Duck Run, and it was there that he developed his love fore music. By the age of ten he was playing the guitar and calling square dances.
In 1929 Leonard left the Midwest and headed for Hollywood. In between occasional singing engagements with the various bands, he helped form (including the Sons of the Pioneers), he worked as a truck driver and a fruit picker.
His big break came in 1937, when he snuck onto the lot of Republic Pictures and landed a contract paying seventy-five-dollars a week. Republic Studios’ president Herbert Yates was looking for a musical actor to go boot-to-boot with singing-cowboy sensation Gene Autry. Renamed Roy Rogers, Leonard had the integrity, the talent, and the look the studio was hoping to find.
Three short years after singing with Republic, Roy Rogers would be the number-one-box-office draw in the country and be crowned the King of the Cowboys.
Enter to win now and Happy Trails.
Roy Rogers was born Leonard Franklin Slye on November 5, 1911, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents owned a farm near the small town of Duck Run, and it was there that he developed his love fore music. By the age of ten he was playing the guitar and calling square dances.
In 1929 Leonard left the Midwest and headed for Hollywood. In between occasional singing engagements with the various bands, he helped form (including the Sons of the Pioneers), he worked as a truck driver and a fruit picker.
His big break came in 1937, when he snuck onto the lot of Republic Pictures and landed a contract paying seventy-five-dollars a week. Republic Studios’ president Herbert Yates was looking for a musical actor to go boot-to-boot with singing-cowboy sensation Gene Autry. Renamed Roy Rogers, Leonard had the integrity, the talent, and the look the studio was hoping to find.
Three short years after singing with Republic, Roy Rogers would be the number-one-box-office draw in the country and be crowned the King of the Cowboys.
Enter to win now and Happy Trails.
King of Cowboys Marries Queen of the West
Last chance to enter to win a copy of The Cowboy and the Senorita: A Biography of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and Happy Trails: A Pictorial Celebration of the Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.
In the fall of 1947 Roy proposed to Dale as he sat on Trigger. The pair was performing at a rode in Chicago, and moments before their big entrance Roy suggested they get married. The date set for the wedding was New Year’s Eve. Gossip columnists predicted that Trigger would be the best man and that Dale would wear a red-sequined, cowgirl gown. The prediction proved to be false.
Roy and Dale’s wedding was a simple affair held at a ranch in Oklahoma, which happened to be the location for the filming of their seventeenth movie, Home in Oklahoma. The couple’s agent, Art Rush, served as best man and his wife, Mary Jo, was the matron of honor.
To learn more about Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger enter to win now and Happy Trails.
In the fall of 1947 Roy proposed to Dale as he sat on Trigger. The pair was performing at a rode in Chicago, and moments before their big entrance Roy suggested they get married. The date set for the wedding was New Year’s Eve. Gossip columnists predicted that Trigger would be the best man and that Dale would wear a red-sequined, cowgirl gown. The prediction proved to be false.
Roy and Dale’s wedding was a simple affair held at a ranch in Oklahoma, which happened to be the location for the filming of their seventeenth movie, Home in Oklahoma. The couple’s agent, Art Rush, served as best man and his wife, Mary Jo, was the matron of honor.
To learn more about Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger enter to win now and Happy Trails.
Samuel Colt
It’s just a dead Giveaway! Enter now to win a copy of the new book More Tales Behind the Tombstones: More Deaths and Burials of the Old West's Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, and Celebrated Lawmen.
In 1839 Samuel Colt patented the revolving-chamber pistol. As a teen he had worked as a sailor and had spent long hours staring at the ship’s wheel. He used this principle to invent a gun that could shoot multiple bullets without reloading. He excelled at both invention and marketing and today would be considered a compulsive workaholic.
He struggled with a way to produce his guns cheaply but was forced to find a method of mass production after he received an order from the U.S. government in 1847 for 1,000 revolvers. By the time he died of exhaustion at age forty-seven, Samuel Colt had produced more than 400,000 Colt .45 revolvers. At his funeral in 1862 it was said of the Colt .45 he invented: “God created man, but Sam Colt [the Colt .45] made them all equal.”
To learn more about Samuel Colt and others like him who left their mark on the American West read More Tales Behind the Tombstones: More Deaths and Burials of the Old West's Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, and Celebrated Lawmen.
In 1839 Samuel Colt patented the revolving-chamber pistol. As a teen he had worked as a sailor and had spent long hours staring at the ship’s wheel. He used this principle to invent a gun that could shoot multiple bullets without reloading. He excelled at both invention and marketing and today would be considered a compulsive workaholic.
He struggled with a way to produce his guns cheaply but was forced to find a method of mass production after he received an order from the U.S. government in 1847 for 1,000 revolvers. By the time he died of exhaustion at age forty-seven, Samuel Colt had produced more than 400,000 Colt .45 revolvers. At his funeral in 1862 it was said of the Colt .45 he invented: “God created man, but Sam Colt [the Colt .45] made them all equal.”
To learn more about Samuel Colt and others like him who left their mark on the American West read More Tales Behind the Tombstones: More Deaths and Burials of the Old West's Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, and Celebrated Lawmen.
Time for Heroes
Enter now to win The Cowboy & the Senorita: A Biography of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.
Hundreds of excited children, with hard-earned nickels and dimes clutched tightly in their fists, exchanged their money for a ticket at Saturday matinees across the country in the 1940s. The chance to see singing cowboy Roy Rogers, his horse, Trigger, and leading lady Dale Evans come up against the West’s most notorious criminals brought young audiences to theatres in droves. And, in the process, it elevated western musicals to one of the most popular film genres in history.
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were the reigning royalty of B-rated westerns for more than a decade. They helped persuade moviegoers that good always triumphs over evil in a fair fight and that life on the open range was one long, wholesome sing-along. Together, the King of Cowboys and the Queen of the West appeared in more than 200 films and television programs.
Roy and Dale made their first picture together in 1944. The film, The Cowboy and the Senorita, brought an estimated 900,000 fans to movie houses in America and began a partnership for the couple that lasted fifty-two years. The chemistry between Roy and Dale was enchanting, and together they were an entertaining powerhouse. In addition to their films, they had popular radio programs, comic book series, albums, and a long list of merchandise (including clothes, boots, and toys), all bearing their names.
Roy and Dale were successful individually, as well. Dale, a talented singer-songwriter, performed with big band orchestras, shared the stage with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and penned many popular tunes, including the song that would be Roy and Dale’s theme, “Happy Trails.” Roy was a co-founder and member of the group the Sons of the Pioneers. The band made a name for itself singing original country music songs, including “Cool Water” and “Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds.”
To learn more about Roy Rogers and Dale Evans read The Cowboy and the Senorita.
Hundreds of excited children, with hard-earned nickels and dimes clutched tightly in their fists, exchanged their money for a ticket at Saturday matinees across the country in the 1940s. The chance to see singing cowboy Roy Rogers, his horse, Trigger, and leading lady Dale Evans come up against the West’s most notorious criminals brought young audiences to theatres in droves. And, in the process, it elevated western musicals to one of the most popular film genres in history.
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were the reigning royalty of B-rated westerns for more than a decade. They helped persuade moviegoers that good always triumphs over evil in a fair fight and that life on the open range was one long, wholesome sing-along. Together, the King of Cowboys and the Queen of the West appeared in more than 200 films and television programs.
Roy and Dale made their first picture together in 1944. The film, The Cowboy and the Senorita, brought an estimated 900,000 fans to movie houses in America and began a partnership for the couple that lasted fifty-two years. The chemistry between Roy and Dale was enchanting, and together they were an entertaining powerhouse. In addition to their films, they had popular radio programs, comic book series, albums, and a long list of merchandise (including clothes, boots, and toys), all bearing their names.
Roy and Dale were successful individually, as well. Dale, a talented singer-songwriter, performed with big band orchestras, shared the stage with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and penned many popular tunes, including the song that would be Roy and Dale’s theme, “Happy Trails.” Roy was a co-founder and member of the group the Sons of the Pioneers. The band made a name for itself singing original country music songs, including “Cool Water” and “Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds.”
To learn more about Roy Rogers and Dale Evans read The Cowboy and the Senorita.
