Smiley Burnette

Lester Alvin Burnett (March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967), better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and other B-movie cowboys. was born in Summum, Illinois, on March 18, 1911, and grew up in Ravenwood, Missouri. He began singing as a child and learned to play a wide variety of instruments by ear, yet never learned to read or write music. In his teens, he worked in vaudeville, and starting in 1929, at the state's first commercial radio station, WDZ-AM in Tuscola, Illinois.

Burnette came by his nickname while creating a character for a WDZ children's program. He was reading Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" at the time, which included a character named Jim Smiley. He named the radio character Mr. Smiley and soon adopted the moniker as his own, dropping the title. and when Autry left for World War II service, Burnette was elevated to top billing, with Eddie Dew, Sunset Carson, and Bob Livingston alternating as the cowboy lead. Burnette also appeared in nine films with Roy Rogers. Burnette's movie horse, white with a black-ringed left eye, also became famous, first as Black-eyed Nellie, then as Ring-eyed Nellie, and finally as just Ring Eye. was completed but never released; Columbia discontinued its program Westerns one month later. Columbia then reassigned Burnette to the six remaining films in its Gene Autry series, reuniting Burnette with his former partner.

Singer-songwriter

Smiley Burnette wrote more than 400 songs and sang a significant number of them on screen. His Western classic, "Ridin' Down the Canyon (To Watch the Sun Go Down)", was later recorded by Willie Nelson, Riders in the Sky, and Johnnie Lee Wills. Other compositions included "On the Strings of My Lonesome Guitar" (Jimmy Wakely's theme song in the 1940s), "Fetch Me Down My Trusty .45", "Ridin' All Day", and "It's Indian Summer" as well as "The Wind Sings a Cowboy Song," "The Old Covered Wagon," and "Western Lullaby." He also composed musical scores for such films as The Painted Stallion and Waterfront Lady. His songs were recorded by a wide range of singers, including Bing Crosby, Ferlin Husky, and Leon Russell. His performance of "Steamboat Bill" appeared on Billboard's country chart in 1939.

Inventor

Burnette devised and built some of his unusual musical instruments in his home workshop. His "Jassackaphone", for example, which he played in the film The Singing Cowboy, resembled an organ with pipes, levers, and pull mechanisms.

Burnette enjoyed cooking, and in the 1950s, he opened a restaurant chain called The Checkered Shirt, the first of the A-frame drive-ins.

Legacy

Burnette donated his original hat and shirt to the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1962. In 1998, he was inducted into the Western Music Association. On May 5, 2012, he was inducted into the Cowtown Society of Western Music Hall of Fame as a Hero.

Burnette is mentioned in the Statler Brothers' 1973 country music hit "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?", a song which mourns the loss of the white hat cowboy heroes of the past.

Selected filmography

In Old Santa Fe (1934) as Lester Burnette (uncredited) The Marines Are Coming (1934) as Sailor Delivering Flowers to Bill (uncredited) Mystery Mountain (1934, Serial) as Lake Teamster [Ch. 6-7] (uncredited) Arizona Bad Man (1935) as Credits Singer (uncredited) The Phantom Empire (1935, Serial) as Oscar Lightning Triggers (1935) as Singer Over Opening Credits (uncredited) The Adventures of Rex and Rinty (1935, Serial) as Jensen Tumbling Tumbleweeds (1935) as Smiley Harmony Lane (1935) as Singer (uncredited) Waterfront Lady (1935) as Musician Melody Trail (1935) as Frog Millhouse The Sagebrush Troubadour (1935) as Frog Millhouse The Singing Vagabond (1935) as Frog Millhouse Hitch Hike Lady (1935) as Singer (uncredited) The Cheyenne Tornado (1935) as Singer Over Credits (uncredited) Red River Valley (1936) as Frog Doughnuts and Society (1936) as Mover #2 Comin' Round the Mountain (1936) as Frog Millhouse The Singing Cowboy (1936) as Frog Millhouse Hearts in Bondage (1936) as Rammer (uncredited) Undersea Kingdom (1936) as Briny Deep The Border Patrolman (1936) as Chuck Owens Guns and Guitars (1936) as Frog Millhouse Oh, Susanna! (1936) as Frog Millhouse Ride, Ranger, Ride (1936) as Frog Millhouse The Big Show (1936) as Frog Millhouse The Old Corral (1936) as Frog Millhouse A Man Betrayed (1936) as Hillbilly Larceny on the Air (1937) as Jimmy Dick Tracy (1937, Serial) as Mike McGurk Round-Up Time in Texas (1937) as Frog Millhouse Git Along Little Dogies (1937) as Frog Millhouse Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm (1937) as Frog Milhouse Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge (1937) as Colonel Frog Millhouse Meet the Boyfriend (1937) as Band Leader Public Cowboy No. 1 (1937) as Frog Millhouse Boots and Saddles (1937) as Frog Millhouse Springtime in the Rockies (1937) as Frog Millhouse Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937) as Frog - Accordion Player The Old Barn Dance (1936) as Frog Millhouse Hollywood Stadium Mystery (1938) as himself Under Western Stars (1938) as Frog Millhouse Gold Mine in the Sky (1938) as Frog Millhouse The Man from Music Mountain (1938) as Frog Millhouse Billy the Kid Returns (1938) as Frog Millhouse Prairie Moon (1938) as Frog Millhouse Rhythm of the Saddle (1938) as Frog Millhouse Western Jamboree (1938) as Frog Millhouse Home on the Prairie (1939) as Frog Millhouse Mexicali Rose (1939) as Frog Millhouse Blue Montana Skies (1939) as Frog Millhouse Mountain Rhythm (1939) as Frog Millhouse Colorado Sunset (1939) as Frog Millhouse In Old Monterey (1939) as Frog Millhouse Rovin' Tumbleweeds (1939) as Frog Millhouse South of the Border (1939) as Frog Millhouse Rancho Grande (1940) as Frog Millhouse Gaucho Serenade (1940) as Frog Millhouse Carolina Moon (1940) as Frog Millhouse Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride (1940) as Frog Millhouse Ridin' on a Rainbow (1941) as Frog Millhouse Back in the Saddle (1941) as Frog Millhouse The Singing Hill (1941) as Frog Millhouse Sunset in Wyoming (1941) as Frog Millhouse Under Fiesta Stars (1941) as Frog Millhouse Down Mexico Way (1941) as Frog Millhouse Sierra Sue (1941) as Frog Millhouse Cowboy Serenade (1942) as Frog Millhouse Heart of the Rio Grande (1942) as Frog Millhouse Home in Wyomin' (1942) as Frog Millhouse Stardust on the Sage (1942) as Frog Millhouse Call of the Canyon (1942) as Frog Millhouse Bells of Capistrano (1942) as Frog Millhouse Heart of the Golden West (1942) as Frog Millhouse Idaho (1943) as Frog Millhouse King of the Cowboys (1943) as Frog Millhouse Silver Spurs (1943) as Frog Millhouse Beyond the Last Frontier (1943) as Frog Millhouse Raiders of Sunset Pass (1943) as Frog Millhouse Pride of the Plains (1944) as Frog Millhouse Beneath Western Skies (1944) as Sheriff Frog Millhouse The Laramie Trail (1944) as Frog Millhouse Call of the Rockies (1944) as Frog Millhouse Bordertown Trail (1944) as Frog Millhouse Code of the Prairie (1944) as Frog Millhouse Firebrands of Arizona (1944) as Frog Millhouse / Beefsteak Discoe Roaring Rangers (1946) as himself Gunning for Vengeance (1946) as himself Galloping Thunder (1946) as himself Two-Fisted Stranger (1946) as Deputy The Desert Horseman (1946) as himself Heading West (1946) as himself Landrush (1946) as himself Terror Trail (1946) as himself The Fighting Frontiersman (1946) as himself South of the Chisholm Trail (1947) as himself The Lone Hand Texan (1947) as himself West of Dodge City (1947) as himself, editor Law of the Canyon (1947) as himself Prairie Raiders (1947) as himself The Stranger from Ponca City (1947) as himself Riders of the Lone Star (1947) as himself Buckaroo from Powder River (1947) as himself Last Days of Boot Hill (1947) as Deputy Six-Gun Law (1948) as himself Phantom Valley (1948) as himself West of Sonora (1948) as himself Whirlwind Raiders (1948) as himself Blazing Across the Pecos (1948) as Marshall Trail to Laredo (1948) as himself El Dorado Pass (1948) as himself Quick on the Trigger (1948) as himself Challenge of the Range (1949) as himself Desert Vigilante (1949) as himself Laramie (1949) as himself The Blazing Trail (1949) as Marshall South of Death Valley (1949) as himself Bandits of El Dorado (1949) as Sheriff Horsemen of the Sierras (1949) as himself Renegades of the Sage (1949) as himself Trail of the Rustlers (1950) as himself Outcast of Black Mesa (1950) as himself Texas Dynamo (1950) as himself Streets of Ghost Town (1950) as himself Across the Badlands (1950) as himself Raiders of Tomahawk Creek (1950) as himself Frontier Outpost (1950) as himself Lightning Guns (1950) as himself Prairie Roundup (1951) as himself Ridin' the Outlaw Trail (1951) as himself Fort Savage Raiders (1951) as himself Whirlwind (1951) as himself Snake River Desperadoes (1951) as himself Bonanza Town (1951) as himself Cyclone Fury (1951) as himself The Kid from Amarillo (1951) as himself Pecos River (1951) as himself Smoky Canyon (1952) as himself The Hawk of Wild River (1952) as himself Laramie Mountains (1952) as Sergeant Smiley Burnette The Rough, Tough West (1952) as Fire Chief Junction City (1952) as himself The Kid from Broken Gun (1952) as himself Winning of the West (1953) as himself On Top of Old Smoky (1953) as himself Goldtown Ghost Riders (1953) as himself Pack Train (1953) as himself Saginaw Trail (1953) as himself Last of the Pony Riders (1953) as himself