Lester Alvin 'Smiley' Burnette 1911 - 1967

(From Old Corral image collection) (From Old Corral image collection) Above, Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette during their days at Republic Pictures

Lester Alvin 'Smiley' Burnette was born in Summum, Illinois, and his parents were ministers.  In high school, he became interested in music, and after graduation from Astoria (Illinois) High School, Burnette went to work for a local radio station in/near Tuscola, Illinois where he quickly became a 'jack-of-all-trades'.  The story goes that Gene Autry was in the Champaign, Illinois area doing a performance, and he was short a musician.  Burnette auditioned for the job, and was hired.

Burnette became a member of the National Barn Dance radio show, and went with Gene Autry to Hollywood, and that twosome made over 50 films together ... remember him as 'Frog Millhouse'?  When Autry left for World War II service, Smiley did sidekick duties with Eddie Dew, Sunset Carson and Bob Livingston, and he even appeared in about a half dozen films with Roy Rogers.  It was during these later years at Republic that Burnette also became the 'star' of his own series --- these were the initial oaters featuring newcomer Sunset Carson, but Smiley got top billing.

Burnette was under a Term Players Contract at Republic Pictures from July 1, 1936 through June 30, 1944, and his credits at Republic number about 75 films and most are B westerns.  After leaving Republic, Smiley became the sidekick to Charles 'Durango Kid' Starrett at Columbia, and that pairing resulted in 50+ films.

In a bit of irony, he and Gene Autry wound up closing out their cinema careers together at Columbia.  Autry's sidekick at the time was Pat Buttram, but he had been injured during the filming of one of the Autry TV shows.  Burnette came in as a substitute in WHIRLWIND (Columbia, 1951).  A year or so later, after the Starrett series was over, Smiley teamed with Autry for his final six films, all of which were 1953 Columbia releases.

Smiley had his own transcribed radio program which he created under his RadiOzark Enterprises.

Burnette was a prolific music author, with some guesstimates as high as 300-400 songs.  In later years, he was one of the railroaders on PETTICOAT JUNCTION, and was working on that TV show when he passed away from leukemia on February 16, 1967.

You may want to go to the In Search Of ... page on the Old Corral, and check the California Death Records database.  You should find a record for: Lester A. Burnette, born 3/18/1911 in Illinois, passed away on 2/16/1967, and his Mother's maiden name was Heslip.

Received an e-mail from Californian Paul Patton in July, 2000, and he writes: "Smiley had an A-frame drive-in called 'Checkered Shirt'. It was back in the 1960s in Escondido, California, north of San Diego. It may have been before Burger King and I did stop there a time or two. There was a large neon sign laying in tall grass after it closed. I wish now that I had scooped it up for a souvenir."

The Motion Picture Herald and Boxoffice polls were conducted from about the mid 1930s through the mid 1950s.  With a few exceptions, the annual results would list the 'Top Ten' (or 'Top Five') cowboy film stars.  In most cases, the winners were what you would expect --- Autry, Rogers, Holt, Starrett, Hoppy, etc.

How important was Burnette to Republic, Columbia, Gene Autry, Charles Starrett, the western film ... and ticket sales?  The following poll results may help answer that question.  George 'Gabby' Hayes and Burnette were the two B western sidekicks that consistently placed in these polls, though Hayes' rankings were generally a tad higher than Smiley.  Smiley first appeared in the polls in 1939 and was ranked in one or both for fourteen consecutive years, 1939-1952. Hayes' rankings consisted of thirteen years --- from 1941-1952 and 1954.

(Courtesy of Jacque Lauderbaugh) Comic sidekick Smiley Burnette atop his trusty mount which was called Nellie, Ringeye or Ringeye Nellie (or is it spelled "Nelly"?). (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above, Chicago radio station WLS had the National Barn Dance, and their star performers were doing shows on the road.  On the far left, with the light colored suit and large cowboy hat is Gene Autry.  Seated in the bottom row are Max Terhune, wearing suspenders and holding the deck of cards, and to his left and wearing the cowboy hat, is Lester Alvin 'Smiley' Burnette.  The lady wearing the cowboy hat and standing behind Smiley Burnette is Patsy Montana.    Max Terhune's grandson, Tracy Terhune noted "The WLS Barn Dance photo was taken in 1934.  On my grandfathers own copy, he hand wrote on the back that it was taken the day Gene got his telegram to come to Hollywood and listed the year, 1934." Autry and Burnette would head to California to begin work with Poverty Row producer Nat Levine at Mascot Pictures.  Autry and Smiley would appear in IN OLD SANTA FE (1934) feature and MYSTERY MOUNTAIN (1934) cliffhanger, both of which starred Ken Maynard.  Soon after, Autry would be the lead in Mascot's THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (1935) cliffhanger. (From Old Corral image collection) After exiting Republic Pictures in 1944, Smiley was the sidekick to Charles 'Durango Kid' Starrett in 50+ films. Look close at this title lobby card from THE BLAZING TRAIL (1949). Charles Starrett and Smiley Burnette are left-handed - when this card was made, they reversed the image of Starrett and Smiley.