Gene Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998)
Gene Autry gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on radio, in the movies
and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s. His
signature song was "Back in the Saddle Again”, but he is best known today
for his Christmas songs, “Here Comes Santa Clause”, “Frosty the Snowman”,
and his biggest hit, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.
Autry was also the owner of the Los Angeles/California Angels Major League
Baseball team from 1961 to 1997, a television station and several radio stations
in Southern California. On September 1, 1962, he bought Portland’s KEX radio
from the Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. as part of his company, Golden West
Broadcasters, Inc. He is a member of both the Country Music and Nashville Song
writers halls of Fame and was recently made a member of the Baseball Hall of
Fame in Cooperstown, NY.
Jim Abbott and Gene Autry in the Angels dugout in 1990
