Roy Rogers
Birth certificate name:
Leonard Frank Sly
Real name is often noted as:
Leonard Franklin Slye
1911-1998

William Boyd
Real name:
William Lawrence Boyd
1895-1972

Gene Autry
Real name is often noted as:
Orvon Gene Autry
But Gene's birth name was:
Orvon Grover Autry
1907-1998

• From the mid-1930s through the end of the B western era in the 1950s, these three were the favorite B-western heroes in the annual Motion Picture Herald and Boxoffice polls and popularity rankings.
• As the B western faded, all three migrated from the silver screen to TV - and all had popular television series.
• All had successful radio programs. Autry's MELODY RANCH endured the longest, debuting in December, 1939 and ending in May, 1956, a period of 16+ years with all broadcasts over CBS. There was a break - the program was off the air for a 2+ year period - from late Summer, 1943 through late September, 1945 - when Gene was in the Army Air Corps doing World War II duty.
• All three did personal appearances, rodeos, Madison Square Garden shows, etc.

Autry and Rogers did records, and Gene was clearly the most successful in this medium by rating in the Billboard Singles Sales Chart with hits such as "Here Comes Santa Claus" (in 1947 and 1948), "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (in 1949, 1950 and 1951), "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" (in 1950 and 1951), and "Frosty The Snowman" (in 1950 and 1951). Gene had over two dozen "charted" tunes, and one of his earliest was "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" which became a success after his performances in THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (Mascot, 1935) and his first starrer for Republic Pictures, TUMBLING TUMBLEWEEDS (1935). Roy Rogers had 9 "charted" songs between 1938 and 1975, the last being "Hoppy, Gene and Me" and his first was "Hi Yo Silver" which was popularized due to the radio program and THE LONE RANGER (1938) Republic serial. (For specifics on Gene and Roy's record hits, go to your library and see if they have copies of the Billboard charted hits books authored by Joel Whitburn.)

Autry amassed the largest "empire" of the three: he owned TV and radio stations as well as the California Angels baseball team. And in addition to his own weekly TV program, Gene's Flying A Production company made 1950s shows such as THE RANGE RIDER, BUFFALO BILL JR., THE ADVENTURES OF ANNIE OAKLEY, more.

Autry is the only entertainer to have five stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame (for his work in movies, radio, records, television and live performances). Roy has three stars (for movies, television and radio). William Boyd has a single star for his work in motion pictures.

Many of us were lucky enough to see (and videotape) Roy and Gene's westerns when they were broadcast many years ago on the cable TV station The Nashville Network (TNN). Roy and Gene were there, along with friends and guests, and provided some great commentary and anecdotes about their life and films.

I have my personal likes with all three of these western performers: I prefer the Gene Autry Republic films from 1938-41 and much of his later Columbia work; most all of the Hoppy yarns done for Paramount through the early 1940s are topknotch with good stories, great locations and have the look/feel of an A grade movie; and I prefer the Roy Rogers films from about 1945 on.

From their films, we became familiar with George Hayes, initially as 'Windy' in the Hoppy adventures, and later as 'Gabby' with Roy Rogers and Bill Elliott at Republic; in addition to Gabby, Roy also got help from Bob Nolan, crazy Pat Brady, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, Smiley Burnette, Andy Devine and 'Pinky' Lee; we laughed at the antics of Smiley Burnette and Pat Buttram in the Autry films; Russell Hayden, Jimmy Ellison, Rand Brooks, and several others were the trail pards to Hopalong Cassidy; Andy Clyde arrived to be the comedic pal to Hoppy; we heard some great singing groups like the Sons of the Pioneers, Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Cass County Boys; the heroines included Dale Evans, Penny Edwards and Mary Hart (Lynne Roberts) with Roy ... and there was June Storey, Fay McKenzie and Gail 'Annie Oakley' Davis with Gene; and who can forget our favorite movie horses, Trigger, Champion and Topper.

Great memories ... great films ... great movie cowboys!

As mentioned earlier, popularity polls were prevalent during the 1930s - 1950s, and were conducted by two Hollywood trade publications, the Motion Picture Herald and Boxoffice.  Roy, Gene and William Boyd were consistently ranked among the Top Ten (or Top Five) cowboy stars.  Because of their popularity, they were the ones that brought in the $$$ for their film production companies ... and theater owners flocked to show their films ... and that caused them to be more popular ... and on, and on.

William Hoppy Boyd was consistently ranked in the Motion Picture Herald and Boxoffice polls.  But it was Gene and Roy who "slugged it out" for the top ratings.

Autry had been the #1 cowboy star in both polls for a bunch of years, and was again voted #1 for 1942.

Gene enlisted in the Air Corps on July 26, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois and his initial rank was Technical Sergeant. Duties included flying supplies in the China-India-Burma theater, and he served for 4+ years. BELLS OF CAPISTRANO (Republic, 1942) began appearing on theater screens in September, 1942, and was Gene's last film until after the war. After his discharge, he returned to Republic to finish out his contract obligations in five new films, the first of which was SIOUX CITY SUE (Republic, 1946). He then created his own production company and moved to Columbia Pictures for a new round of oaters.

With Gene's departure for World War II service, Republic passed the baton to Roy Rogers.  Roy's KING OF THE COWBOYS was released in April, 1943, and that became the official Rogers billing.  1942 was Gene's last #1 rating. Rogers took over the crown in 1943, and held that #1 ranking through the end of the B western genre in the early 1950s (with Autry coming in a consistent #2).  In the poll results below, note the ratings for Autry during the war years when he wasn't doing new cinema adventures - Republic was re-releasing his earlier films and Gene remained popular and a money-maker for the studio.

Most of the info on the Old Corral about the contracts and salaries at Republic Pictures has been gleaned from Jack Mathis' excellent Republic Confidential, Volume 2, The Players (Jack Mathis Advertising, 1992), and I've given Jack credit in the Acknowledgements & Thanks page.  The Mathis book includes information on Roy and Gene's financial agreements with Republic, and following are some highlights:

Roy Rogers:

• Was under a Term Players Contract(s) from October 13, 1937 through December 3, 1948.
• His initial salary was $75.00/weekly and at the end of the contract(s), his pay had escalated to $1000.00/weekly.
• Rogers then signed a term picture arrangement which included a $10,000.00 bonus and pay of $21,000.00 plus a $500.00 clothing allowance for each of 11 films over a 2 year period.
• In February, 1950, Republic exercised their option to extend that contract for 6 more films at $21,667.00 each.
• Republic and Roy agreed to another extension for his final 2 westerns at $25,000.00 each.

Gene Autry:

• Was under a 3 year Contract(s) from July 1, 1935 through June 30, 1938 which included 6 month options. This was a 'Nat Levine/Mascot contract' which was transferred to Republic at the time of the formation of that studio (from the merger of Mascot, Monogram, Consolidated Film Laboratories, et al, in 1935).
• Gene's initial salary was $100.00/weekly which escalated to $350.00/weekly by mid 1938.
• Autry was then signed to annual contracts:
  • 1938-39: $6,000 for each of the first two films, followed by $10,000 for each of the remainder.
  • 1940-41: $11,000 per picture
  • 1941-42: $12,000 per picture
  • 1942-43: $13,000 per picture.  (Only 3 of 8 films were made before Gene left for World War II service.  After the war, he returned to Republic and completed the remaining 5 films under this agreement.  He then formed his own production company, releasing his westerns through Columbia Pictures.)