- Tex Ritter
Infobox Person
name = Tex Ritter
image_size =
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1905|1|12|mf=y
birth_place =Murvaul, Texas , USA
death_date = death date and age|1974|1|02|1905|1|12
death_place =Nashville, Tennessee , USA
occupation =Musician ,Actor
spouse =Dorothy Fay
parents = James Everett Ritter and Martha Elizabeth Matthews
children =John Ritter (died September 11, 2003)
Thomas Ritter |Tex Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was an American country
singer andactor and the father of actorJohn Ritter .Life and career
He was born Woodward Maurice Ritter in
Murvaul, Texas , the son of James Everett Ritter and Martha Elizabeth Matthews.He grew up on his family's farm in Panola County and attended grade school in Carthage. He then attended South Park High School in Beaumont. After graduating with honors, he entered the
University of Texas at Austin ; he studied pre-law , majoring in government, political science and economics.One of the early pioneers of
country music , Ritter soon became interested in show business. In 1928, he sang on KPRC Radio in Houston, a thirty-minute show featuring cowboy songs. In that same year, he moved toNew York City and quickly landed a job in the men's chorus of the Broadway show "The New Moon " (1928).He appeared as "The Cowboy" in the Broadway production "Green Grow the Lilacs" (1930), which was the basis for the later musical "
Oklahoma! ". He also played the part of Sagebrush Charlie in "The Round Up" (1932) and "Mother Lode " (1934).Ritter also worked on various radio programs. In 1932, he starred on the WOR Radio show "The Lone Star Rangers", which was New York's first broadcast western. He sang songs and told tales of the
Old West . Ritter wrote and starred in "Cowboy Tom's Roundup" on WINS Radio inNew York in 1933. This daily children's cowboy radio program aired over three stations on the East Coast for three years. These shows marked the beginning of Ritter's popularity in radio, which paved the way for his upcoming singingcareer . He also performed on the radio show "WHN Barndance" and sang on NBC Radio.He appeared in several radio dramas, including CBS's "
Bobby Benson's Adventures " and "Death Valley Days ".Ritter began recording for American Record Company (
Columbia Records ) in 1933. His first released recording was "Goodbye Ole Paint." He also recorded "Rye Whiskey" for that label. In 1935, he signed withDecca Records , where he recorded his first original recordings, "Sam Hall" and "Get Along Little Dogie."In 1936, he moved to
Los Angeles, California . His motion picture debut was in "Song Of The Gringo " (1936) forGrand National Pictures . He starred in twelve movies for Grand National, "B" grade Westerns, which included "Headin' For The Rio Grande " (1936), and "Trouble In Texas " (1937) co-starringRita Hayworth (then known as Rita Cansino).After starring in "
Utah Trail " (1938), Ritter left the financially troubled Grand National. Between 1938 and 1945, he starred in around forty "singing cowboy " movies, mostly to critical scorn.Ritter made four movies with actress
Dorothy Fay atMonogram Pictures : "Song of the Buckaroo " (1938), "Sundown on the Prairie " (1939), "Rollin' Westward " (1939) and "Rainbow Over the Range " (1940).He recorded a total of twenty-nine songs for Decca, the last being in 1939 in Los Angeles as part of Tex Ritter and His Texans.
Tex helped start
United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc , after his son, Thomas, was found to have cerebral palsy. Tex, Thomas, and John spent a great deal of time raising money and public awareness to help others with cerebral palsy.Ritter was the first artist signed with the newly-formed
Capitol Records as well as being their first Western singer. His first recording session was on June 11, 1942. His music recording career began what was his most successful period.He achieved significant success with "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle," and in 1944, he scored another hit with "I'm Wastin' My Tears On You," which hit #1 on the country charts and #11 on the Pop charts. "There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder" was a country charts #2 and Pop charts #21. In 1945, he had the #1, #2 and #3 songs on Billboard's "Most Played Jukebox Folk Records" poll, a first in the industry. Between 1945 and 1946, he registered seven consecutive Top 5 hits, including "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often," a country #1 written by
Jenny Lou Carson , which spent eleven weeks on the charts. In 1948, "Rye Whiskey" and his cover of "Deck Of Cards" both made the Top 10 and "Pecos Bill" reached #15. In 1950, "Daddy's Last Letter (Private First Class John H. McCormick)" also became a hit.In 1952, Ritter recorded the movie title-track song "
High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin') ", which became a hit. He sang "High Noon" at the firstAcademy Awards ceremony to be televised in 1953, and he recorded the song a number of times. It received an Oscar for Best Song that year. [http://users.pandora.be/davidneale/elvis/originals/list3.html#S27995]Ritter first toured
Europe in 1952, where his appearances included a starring role in the "Texas Western Spectacle" at London's famousHarringay Arena . In 1953, he began performing on "Town Hall Party " on radio and television in Los Angeles. He formed Vidor Publications, Inc., a music publishing firm, withJohnny Bond , in 1955. "Remember the Alamo" was the first song in the catalog.In 1957, he released his first LP album, "Songs From the Western Screen". He made his national TV debut on ABC's "
Ozark Jubilee " and starred in his owntelevision music series, "Ranch Party ", televised for four years, starting in 1959. In 1961 he was one of five rotating hosts for the NBC-TV series "Five Star Jubilee".Even after the peak of his performing career, Ritter would be recognized for his contributions to country and western music and for his artistic versatility. He became one of the founding members of the
Country Music Association inNashville, Tennessee . In 1964, he became the fifth person and first singing cowboy to be inducted into theCountry Music Hall of Fame . He moved to Nashville in 1965 and began working for WSM Radio and the "Grand Ole Opry ". He also received a lifetime membership to the "Opry". His family remained in California temporarily so that son John could finishhigh school there. For a time, Dorothy was an official greeter at the "Opry". During this period, Ritter co-hosted a late night radio program with famed countrydisc jockey Ralph Emery .In 1970, Ritter surprised many people by entering the Republican primary for
United States Senate . Despite high name recognition, he lost overwhelmingly toChattanooga, Tennessee CongressmanBill Brock , who then went on to win thegeneral election over veteran U.S. SenatorAlbert Gore, Sr. Personal life
Ritter was married to actress
Dorothy Fay (June 14, 1941-his death January 2, 1974). They had two sons, Thomas Ritter and well-known Americantelevision star John Ritter (of "Three's Company " fame). He is also the grandfather ofJason Ritter .Death and recognition
Ritter had his last recording session for Capitol Records in 1973. His last song, "The Americans," became a posthumous hit shortly after his death. In 1974, he had a heart attack and died in Nashville. He is interred at Oak Bluff Memorial Park in
Port Neches, Texas .For his contribution to the recording industry, Tex Ritter has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6631 Hollywood Boulevard; he andJohn Ritter were the first father-and-son pair to be so honored in different categories. In 1980, he was inducted into theWestern Performers Hall of Fame at theNational Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum inOklahoma City, Oklahoma .Filmography
*"Sing a Country Song" (1973) - Ryan
*"The Marshal of Windy Hollow" (1972) - Windy Hollow Mayor
*"The Girl from Tobacco Row" (1966) - Preacher Bolton
*"Tom and Jerry " (1965) TV Series - Alternate Host
*"Ranch Party" (1958) TV Series - Regular (1958)
*"Down Liberty Road" (1956) - George
*"The First Bad Man " (1955) - Narrator
*"Apache Ambush" (1955) - Traeger
*"Wichita " (1955) - Singer
*"Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory" (1952) - Stock footage from "Where the Buffalo Roam"
*"Holiday Rhythm" (1950) - Tex Ritter
*"Flaming Bullets" (1945) - Texas Ranger Tex Haines
*"Frontier Fugitives" (1945) - Texas Ranger Tex Haines
*"Three in the Saddle" (1945) - Tex Haines
*"Enemy of the Law" (1945) - Tex Haines
*"Marked for Murder" (1945) - Tex Haines
*"The Whispering Skull" (1944) - Tex Haines
*"Dead or Alive " (1944) - Tex Haines aka Idaho Kid
*"Gangsters of the Frontier" (1944) - Tex Haines
*"Oklahoma Raiders" (1944) - Steve Nolan
*"Cowboy Canteen" (1944) - Tex Coulter
*"Marshal of Gunsmoke" (1944) - Marshal Ward Bailey
*"Arizona Trail " (1943) - Johnnie Trent
*"Frontier Badmen" (1943) - Jerry Kimball (cattle buyer)
*"Lone Star Trail" (1943) - Fargo Steele
*"Raiders of San Joaquin" (1943) - Gil Blake
*"Cheyenne Roundup" (1943) - Steve Rawlins
*"Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground" (1943) - Bob Courtney
*"The Old Chisholm Trail" (1942) - Montana Smith
*"Little Joe, the Wrangler" (1942) - Sheriff Bob Brewster
*"Deep in the Heart of Texas " (1942) - Brent Gordon
*"Vengeance of the West" (1942) - California Ranger Captain Tex Lake
*"Prairie Gunsmoke" (1942) - Tex Terrell
*"The Devil's Trail" (1942) - Marshal Tex Martin
*"North of the Rockies" (1942) - Tex Martin
*"Bullets for Bandits" (1942) - Sheriff Tex Martin
*"Lone Star Vigilantes" (1942) - Tex Martin
*"Roaring Frontiers" (1941) - Tex Martin (listed as Tex Rawlings)
*"King of Dodge City" (1941) - Tex Rawlings
*"The Pioneers " (1941) - Tex
*"Ridin' the Cherokee Trail" (1941) - Ranger Lt. Tex Ritter
*"Rolling Home to Texas" (1940) - Tex Reed
*"Take Me Back to Oklahoma" (1940) - Tex Lawton
*"Arizona Frontier" (1940) - Tex
*"Roll, Wagons, Roll" (1940) - Tex Masters
*"Rainbow Over the Range" (1940) - Tex Reed
*"The Golden Trail" (1940) - Tex Roberts
*"Cowboy from Sundown" (1940) - Sheriff Tex Rockett
*"Pals of the Silver Sage" (1940) - Tex Wright
*"Rhythm of the Rio Grande" (1940) - Tex Regan
*"Westbound Stage" (1939) - Tex Wallace
*"Riders of the Frontier" (1939) - Tex Lowery
*"Down the Wyoming Trail" (1939) - Tex Yancey
*"The Man from Texas" (1939) - Tex Allen
*"Rollin' Westward" (1939) - Tex
*"Sundown on the Prairie" (1939) - Tex
*"Song of the Buckaroo" (1938) - Texas Dan
*"Where the Buffalo Roam" (1938) - Tex Houston
*"Starlight Over Texas" (1938) - Tex Newman
*"The Utah Trail" (1938) - Tex Stewart, posing as the Pecos Kid
*"Rollin' Plains" (1938) - Tex Lawrence
*"Frontier Town" (1938) - Tex Lansing, alias Tex Rawlins
*"Tex Rides with the Boy Scouts" (1937) - Tex Collins
*"The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen" (1937) - Tex Martin
*"Riders of the Rockies" (1937) - Tex Rand
*"Sing, Cowboy, Sing" (1937) - Tex Archer
*"Hittin' the Trail" (1937) - Tex Randall
*"Trouble in Texas" (1937) - Tex Masters
*"Arizona Days" (1937) - Tex Malinson
*"Headin' for the Rio Grande" (1936) - Tex Saunders
*"Song of the Gringo" (1936) - TexTrivia
Tex Ritter can also be heard as the voice of Big Al. Big Al is the fattest bear at the
Country Bear Jamboree attraction located in theMagic Kingdom at theWalt Disney World Resort . His character sings "Blood on the Saddle" and continues through the finale as the rest of the cast attempts to drown him out.References
*imdb name|0728811|Tex Ritter
*ibdb name|57878|Tex Ritter
*MusicBrainz artist|id=f7c029f2-c082-4aaf-bfd2-d75e762b78a9|name=Tex Ritter
*http://www.carthagetexas.com/HallofFame/museum.htm Tex Ritter Museum at theTexas Country Music Hall of Fame
*http://www.b-westerns.com/ritter.htm
*Zwisohn, Laurence (1998). "Tex Ritter". In "The Encyclopedia of Country Music". Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 447-448.
*O'Neal, Bill (1998). "Tex Ritter: America's Most Beloved Cowboy".Austin, Texas : Eakin Press.
* [http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx?cid=160 Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum]
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