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Tex Ritter - "America's most beloved cowboy"

Woodard Maurice "Tex" Ritter was born January 12, 1905, on a farm in Murvaul, Texas. Tex was one of the best-known singing cowboys in western movie history. He went to highschool at South Park High near Beaumont, Texas, then went on to study pre-law at the University of Texas, in Austin, Texas.

Ritter's diverse career spanning four decades began at KPRC radio station in Houston, Texas in 1929. Ritter starred in eighty-five movies beginning in 1936. He signed a contract with Decca Records in 1934. His hits include "Rye Whiskey," "Texas," "Wayward Wind," "You Are My Sunshine," and "I Dreamed Of A Hill-Billy Heaven."

Ritter starred in over over 60 western movies including: "Rollin' Plains"(1938);"Riders of the Rockies" (1937); "Trouble in Texas"; and "Deep in the Heart of Texas"(1942)

In 1964 he was the fifth country music start to be inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame. In 1989 he was inducted into the Western Music Association Hall of Fame.

Tex also starred in his own comics from 1950 to 1954 with a total of 20 issues, they are of course collectors items.

Tex had his own publishing company, Tex Ritter Music Publications. Among the books published there is "Tex Ritter All Star Song Folio," by Tex Ritter himself.

There have been several books written on Tex Ritter including; "Tex Ritter, America's Most Beloved Cowboy" by Bill O'neal and "The Tex Ritter Story" by Johnny Bond.

The Tex Ritter Museum, located in Carthage, Texas - enteratains thousands of his fans every year.

Tex Ritter's son, John Ritter went on to become famous in his own right, with TV show's like Three's Company; The Waltons; and 8 Simple Rules ... For Dating My Teenage Daughter.


Tex Ritter
(1905-1974)
Rest In Peace


Tex Ritter Discography:

Tex Ritter Filmography:
1955
Wichita
Apache Ambush   - with Bill Williams, Richard Jaeckel, and Alex Montoya


1954
The Cowboy   - with John Dehner and William Conrad


1953
The Marshal's Daughter   - with Laurie Anders, Hoot Gibson, and Ken Murray


1950
Holiday Rhythm   - with Mary Beth Hughes, David Street, and Wally Vernon


1945
Enemy of the Law
Flaming Bullets   - with Richard Alexander, and Stanford Jolley
Frontier Fugitives
Marked for Murder   - with Edward Cassidy, Jack Ingram, and Bob Kortman
Six-Gun Previews, Vol. 1


1944
Cowboy Canteen   - with Roy Acuff, Dick Curtis and Jeff Donnell
Gangsters of the Frontier
Marshal of Gunsmoke
Oklahoma Raiders   - with Richard Alexander and Bob Baker
Three in the Saddle
The Whispering Skull   - with Edward Cassidy and Huntz Hall


1943
Arizona Trail
Cheyenne Roundup   - with Johnny Mack Brown and Fuzzy Knight
Frontier Badmen
Old Chisholm Trail   - with Johnny Mack Brown and Fuzzy Knight
Raiders of San Joaquin
Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground
The Lone Star Trail


1942
Bullets for Bandits   - with William Elliott, and Dorothy Short
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Little Joe, the Wrangler   - with Johnny Mack Brown and Fuzzy Knight
North of the Rockies
Prairie Gunsmoke   - with Virginia Carroll and William Elliott
The Devil's Trail
Vengeance of the West   - with Dick Curtis and Robert Fiske


1941
Dead or Alive   - with Budd Buster and Reed Howes
King of Dodge City
Riding the Cherokee Trail    - with Slim Andrews and Forrest Taylor
Roaring Frontiers
The Lone Star Vigilantes   - with Frank Mitchell and Virginia Carpenter
The Pioneers


1940
Arizona Frontier
Cowboy from Sundown   - with Roscoe Ates and Carleton Young
Rainbow over the Range
Rhythm of the Rio Grande   - with Warner P. Richmond and Martin Garralaga
Rollin' Home to Texas
Take Me Back to Oklahoma   - with Donald Curtis and George Eldredge
The Golden Trail
Westbound Stage    - with Nelson McDowell and Muriel Evans


1939
Down the Wyoming Trail    - with Horace Murphyand Mary Brodel
Riders of the Frontier
Roll, Wagons, Roll     - with Nelson McDowelland Muriel Evans
Rollin' Westward
Song of the Buckaroo    - with Mary Ruth and Tom London
Sundown on the Prairie
The Man from Texas    - with Hal Price and Charles B. Wood


1938
Frontier Town
Riders of the Rockies
Rollin' Plains    - with Horace Murphy and Harriet Bennet
Starlight over Texas
Utah Trail    - with Horace Murphy, Adele Pearce, and Pamela Blake
Where the Buffalo Roam


1937
Arizona Days
Hittin' the Trail    - with Iris Meredith and Horace Murphy
Mystery of the Hooded Horseman
Sing, Cowboy, Sing    - with Louise Stanley and Karl Hackett
Tex Rides With the Boy Scouts
Trouble in Texas     - with Earl Dwire and Yakima Canutt


1936
Headin' For the Rio Grande
Song of the Gringo    - with Robert Emmett Tansey and Al Jennings

http://cowboyoutfitters.com/tex-ritter.html http://www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/heritage/biographies/ritter_t.htm http://www.ohwy.com/tx/t/texritmu.htm http://www.allmusic.com/cg/x.dll?p=amg&sql=B1793

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