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
honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He was born in Willcox, Arizona, in 1921, and entered
show business professionally when he won a state-wide talent contest in 1939,
which led to a singing job on the radio. In 1946 he became a regular on the
National Barn Dance, one of the top country-and-western radio shows in the
country, and this led to a recording contract with Mercury and his own CBS
radio show in Hollywood. Republic signed him in 1949, released his first film,
The Arizona Cowboy, in 1950, and the following year Allen was the fifth biggest
money- maker of western stars (after Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Tim Holt and
Charles Starrett). From 1952 to 1954 he was third only to Rogers and Autry.
His trick pony, Koko the Wonder Horse, made his debut in
Allen's second film, The Hills of Oklahoma, and was to be in all his other
films and later became an integral part of Allen's touring live act, billed as
"The Miracle Horse of the Movies", until he died in 1968 at the age
of 28.
Allen's Republic films, 31 in five years, included Under
Mexicali Stars (1950, the first in which he had Buddy Ebsen as a comic
sidekick, and one of Allen's best roles, as a singing Treasury agent who
catches a gang of smugglers who are using a helicopter to get stolen gold
across the border), Rodeo King and the Senorita (1951, a remake of an earlier
John Wayne film, The Cowboy and the Lady, and one of Allen's personal
favourites), and Colorado Sundown (1952, with Slim Pickens replacing Ebsen).
Like many of Allen's films, Colorado Sundown was directed
by Republic's veteran William Witney, one of the great serial directors noted
for his energetic style. "Witney was my favourite director," said
Allen. "He could get more on the screen for a dollar than any director
I've ever known." That skill was put to good use on Down Laredo Way
(1953), made with a noticeably lower budget than the earlier films and a sign
that the genre was fading. Allen's last western for Republic was The Phantom
Stallion, made in 1954, the year the B western officially died.
Allen already had a thriving record career, his hit
records for the Mercury label including Streets of Laredo (1947), The Roving Kind (1951) and Crying in
the Chapel (1953), and in 1958 he appeared in his first television series,
Frontier Doctor. He also made personal appearances, did television commercials,
and in 1961 was one of five stars who appeared on a rotating basis in the
television show Five Star Jubilee, the others being Snooky Lanson, Tex Ritter,
Jimmy Wakely and Carl Smith. (The show was never telecast in New York because
of its primarily rural appeal.)
In 1962 Allen narrated Walt Disney's live-action feature
about the life of a wolf, The Legend of Lobo, "a tale of the old West told
in story and song", for which he also provided music with the Sons of the
Pioneers, and his warm approach was greatly admired. The critic Bosley Crowther
commented, "The theme and the drama, what little of the latter there is,
is carried in the narration, which cheerily endows the wolf with a great deal
more charm and character than is evidenced on the screen", while the
historian Leonard Maltin recently wrote: "Lobo's biggest asset, aside from
the always first-rate raw footage, is the soundtrack . . . Allen, a former
cowboy star, became a Disney favourite in the 1960s, and with good reason. His
friendly, easy-going approach to the script brings a great deal of life to any
subject."
Allen ultimately narrated more than 80 Disney films and
television shows, including The Incredible Journey (1963) and Charlie the
Lonesome Cougar (1967), and in 1973 narrated the Hanna-Barbera animated feature
Charlotte's Web. He also made guest appearances on television variety shows
such as The Red Skelton Show.
In the 1970s, though retired from film and television, he
still led an active life. He owned a 20-acre ranch, the Diamond X, in Malibu
Canyon, and spent over half the year on personal appearance tours - after Koko
died, he would be accompanied by Koko junior, a chocolate-coloured stallion
with a honey mane exactly like his famous sire.
Rex Allen died on December 17, 1999, two weeks before his
79th birthday, in Tucson, Arizona, after he sustained fatal injuries when his
caregiver accidentally ran over him in the driveway. Cremated, his ashes were
scattered at Railroad Park in Willcox where most of his memorabilia are on
display.
One of his children, Rex Allen Jnr, followed him into
show business, and had a successful career as a Nashville recording artist.
(Info mainly edited from an article by Tom Vallance @ the Independent.co.uk)
6 comments:
For “The Versatile Rex Allen” (2cd SET) go here:
Disc 1
http://www44.zippyshare.com/v/wBzFPmT3/file.html
1. TILL THE WELL GOES DRY
2. AFRAID
3. HOT TIME IN NEW ORLEANS TONIGHT
4. TEN MORE MILES TO GO
5. CRYING IN THE CHAPEL
6. BALLAD OF JOHN COLTER
7. FOGGY RIVER
8. TAKE IT BACK AND CHANGE IT FOR A BOY
9. A BROKEN DOWN MERRY GO ROUND
10. ALWAYS YOU
11. YOU DRIFTED
12. I THANK THE LORD
13. SPARROW IN THE TREETOP
14. YODELIN' CRAZY
15. WRECK OF THE JOHN B
16. DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME
17. THE ROVING KIND
18. THE LAST CAROUSE
19. WRINGLE WRANGLE
20. BLUE DREAM
21. TAGALONG
22. TUCK ME TO SLEEP IN MY OLD ‘TUCKY HOME
23. I COULDN'T CARE LESS
24. RACK UP THE BALLS BOYS
25. NAGGIN'
26. LAZY RIVER
27. MR & MISSISSIPPI
28. LONELY LITTLE ROBIN
29. HONOLULU BOOGIE
30. TOO-LEE-ROLLUM
Disc 2
http://www33.zippyshare.com/v/e57qa39M/file.html
1. BLUE LIGHT WALTZ
2. WESTWARD HO THE WAGONS!
3. FARTHER ALONG
4. JAMBALAYA (On The Bayou)
5. THE MYSTERY OF HIS WAY
6. LITTLE WHITE HORSE
7. I KNOW THE REASON WHY
8. SOMEWHERE
9. ANGEL TO JOE
10. HE PLAYED A STEEL GUITAR
11. FLOWER OF SAN ANTONE
12. I'M LONELY MY DARLIN' (Green Grow The Lilacs)
13. STAYING YOUNG
14. MONEY, MARBLES AND CHALK
15. SOFTLY AND TENDERLY
16. BRINGING HOME THE BACON
17. IF GOD CAN FORGIVE YOU SO CAN I
18. I COULD CRY MY HEART OUT (Sometimes)
19. DRANGO
20. I'M LEARNING TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU
21. FOREVER AND EVER
22. YOU TOOK MY NAME (with Eva Summers)
23. THE LITTLE OLD CHURCH IN THE VALLEY
24. L-O-N-E-S-O-M-E LETTER BLUES
25. MORGEN (One More Sunrise)
26. TOMORROW'S JUST ANOTHER DAY TO CRY
27. RAGTIME MELODY
28. TO BE ALONE
29. HAWAIIAN COWBOY
30. LIGHT IN THE WINDOW
A big thank you to Jasmine Records.
Yippie kai yah. Thanks Bob.
Thanks from me too.
unfortunately I was late. please update the link. thank you in advance.
Hello Yodeller, here's the new link
https://mega.nz/file/YvIlmCSC#eOCVrgbGqM8X0S36MbnQpDJ-ogXsdhqN304fo6jRTec
Regards, Bob
WOW! Thank you Bob!
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