Gene Autry

As a young man living in Oklahoma, Gene Autry worked as a telegraph operator for a railroad. He would often pick at his guitar and write songs to pass the time until a customer heard his voice and advised him to quit his job and try working in radio (that customer was Will Rogers). Autry headed out to New York, and became one of the most famous singing cowboys in the world. He killed over 100 bad guys in black hats on the silver screen and still found time to sing a song after justice was served. Besides singing old Cowboy classics, Autry also penned such Yuletide standards as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Raindeer," "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Frosty the Snowman." Whether he was singing Christmas carols or such country hits as "Deep in the Heart of Texas," or "Back in the Saddle Again," his buttery voice delighted children and mothers everywhere for more than sixty years.