Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers, real name Leonard Franklin Slye was born on 5th November, 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He made his name as a singing cowboy film star. During the 1930s and 1940s he featured in large numbers of films, making as many as six a year. His films included 'Flying Down To Rio' made in 1933, 'Days Of Jesse James' made in 1939, 'Dark Command' made in 1940, 'The Singing Cowboy', 'Young Buffalo Bill' and 'Bells of Coronado'. His films were watched by more than 80 million Americans, which was over half the population. By 1950 there were over 2,000 Roy Rogers fan clubs throughout the world.

He became known as 'The King of the Cowboys' and appeared with his wife Dale Evans and his horse Trigger. He also had his own show on TV from 1961 to 1964. 'The Roy Rogers Show' was a western series which also featured Dale. Roy and Dale also had several long-running radio series that featured their singing duets and dramatic sketches.

Roy died on 6th July, 1998, aged 86.