Rex Allen Biography

Fast Facts

• Was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame and became the first recipient of the Golden Boot Award in 1983
• Began performing as a child with his father at local dances, where he sang and played the guitar
• Made his screen acting debut in the film "The Arizona Cowboy" in 1950
• Started out as a featured singer on "The National Barn Dance" radio program, which earned him a contract with Mercury Records
• Quote: "(On the difference between the country and western genres): "Western songs are about nature, cattle, ranching and that kind of thing - but there are no three-way love affairs in them․""
• After retiring from the film industry, he returned to Willcox, Arizona and founded the Rex Allen Arizona Cowboy Museum and the Cowboy Hall of Fame
• Was the narrator of the 1973 animated film "Charlotte's Web" as well as several nature documentary films during the 1960s
• Wrote nearly 300 songs during his career, including the hits "Streets of Laredo" and "I Won't Need my Six-Gun in Heaven․"
• Best known as a singing cowboy in films like "Colorado Sundown" in the 1950s and for his role as Dr․ Bill Baxter in "Frontier Doctor․"
• Was the voice of Disney's Carousel of Progress, which was first presented at the 1964 World's Fair and is now at Walt Disney World