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Rex Allen

Rex Allen
Rex Allen and Koko 1952.jpg
Allen and Koko, 1952
Born Rex Elvie Allen
(1920-12-31)December 31, 1920
Willcox, Arizona, U.S.
Died December 17, 1999(1999-12-17) (aged 78)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Cause of death Injuries suffered in a road accident
Other names Rex E. Allen
Rex Allen, Sr.
"Cactus Rex"
"The Arizona Cowboy"
"The Voice of the West"
Occupation Actor, singer, songwriter
Years active 1948–1986
Spouse(s) Doris Winsor (m. 19??; div. 19??)
Bonnie Linder (m. 1946; div. 1973)
Virginia Hudson (m. 1992; div. 1999)
Children 5, including Rex Allen, Jr.
Parent(s) Horace E. Allen
Luella Faye Clark

Rex Elvie Allen (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999) was an American film and television actor, singer and songwriter, known as "the Arizona Cowboy" and as the narrator of many Disney nature and Western productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Allen was born to Horace E. Allen and Luella Faye Clark on a ranch in Mud Springs Canyon, forty miles from Willcox in Cochise County in southeastern Arizona. As a boy he played guitar and sang at local functions with his fiddle-playing father until high-school graduation when he toured the Southwest as a rodeo rider. He got his start in show business on the East Coast as a vaudeville singer, then found work in Chicago as a performer on the WLS-AM program, National Barn Dance. He left the show in 1949 and moved to Hollywood. In 1948 he signed with Mercury Records where he recorded a number of successful country music albums until 1952, when he switched to the Decca label where he continued to make records into the 1970s. He also recorded one album for Buena Vista (Disney, pictured) in the 1960s, although sources vary on the date of issue.

When singing cowboys such as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were very much in vogue in American film, in 1949 Republic Pictures in Hollywood gave him a screen test and put him under contract. Beginning in 1950, Allen starred as himself in 19 of Hollywood's Western movies. One of the top-ten box office draws of the day, whose character was soon depicted in comic books, on screen Allen personified the clean cut, God-fearing American hero of the wild West who wore a white Stetson hat, loved his faithful horse Koko, and had a loyal buddy who shared his adventures. Allen's comic-relief sidekick in his first few pictures was Buddy Ebsen and then character actor Slim Pickens.


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