Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (29 September 1907-2 October 1998), nicknamed "The Singing Cowboy", was an American singer-songwriter, actor, musician, and rodeo performer. Born in Tioga, Grayson County, North Texas, Autry was raised in Ravia, Johnston County, Oklahoma, and he became a railroad telegrapher in Chelsea, Oklahoma in 1925. He was fired for singing and playing guitar to entertain himself during his long, lonely hours on the job, but Will Rogers hired Autry as a professional singer after meeting him at his job and noticing his musical talent, and, by 1928, he became known as "Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy". He signed a recording deal with Columbia Records in 1929, and he became known as a crooner on radio, film, and television starting in the early 1930s. From 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 films, and he hosted The Gene Autry Show from 1950 to 1956, and he was a role model to millions of Americans due to his portrayals of "honest, brave, and true" heroes. He also became famous for his songs "Back in the Saddle Again", "At Mail Call Today", "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman", "Here Comes Santa Claus", and "Up on the House Top." He served in the US Army as a tech sergeant aboard USAAF planes during World War II, flying in the dangerous "Hump" airlift between India and China during the war.
Autry was a Republican who supported his friend and fellow Californian President Richard Nixon, but he once covered a labor song commemorating Mother Jones, the co-founder of the Industrial Workers of the World.