In 1950, singing cowboy film and radio performer Gene Autry brought his formidable talents to television as the star of a weekly, primetime, half-hour series.
With his sidekick, comedian Pat Buttram, and his horse, Champion, Autry – who was not a lawman himself – helped others maintain law and order in the Wild West, singing an occasional cowboy ballad along the way, on what became one of the most popular children’s western series on TV.
Autry’s shows, which were produced by his own production company, made the cowboy star millions of dollars, especially when the shows went into continuous reruns in the years that followed, and made Autry one of the wealthiest men in Hollywood.
