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Submitted: 3/8/09 • Approved: 3/8/09 • Last Updated: 3/23/18 • R66285-G0-S3
Born Dec 31, 1920 to Horace and Faye Allen in Wilcox. Rex was cross-eyed at birth.
As a young boy, Rex sang in the barber shop on this very street. He and his dad played for dances and rodeos in the 30's and he excelled in glee clubs and church choirs.
Rex left home determined to find his place in the career he loved - music.
In 1945 at WLS radio in Chicago, he gained nationwide popularity on "The National barn Dance."
In 1946 he married Bonnie Linder, the mother of his children: Rex Jr., Curtis, Mark, and Bonita Allen.
Through the golden age of radio, Rex Allen starred with the greats: Red Foley, Lulu Belle and Scotty, and George Gobel.
Rex Allen's recording career was launched with Mercury Records in 1946 and spanned 30 years. The song that became his trademark, "Streets of Laredo," sold over 3 million copies.
In 1959 Rex signed with Republic Pictures in Hollywood, the motion picture studio responsible for the careers of John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. Starring in 19 action-packed westerns with "Ko Ko" through 1954, Rex was the last of the "Silver Screen Cowboys."
In the television years of 1955-56, Rex starred in 39 episodes of "Frontier Doctor."
During the next three decades, Rex and Ko Ko appeared at every major rodeo inn the U.S. and Canada.
His golden voice has been heard on hundreds of commercials over the years and he narrated more than 100 nature films for Walt Disney.
Rex Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On December 17, 1999, two weeks shy of his 79th birthday, he died in Tucson, Arizona, of a massive coronary, causing him to collapse in his driveway. He suffered additional injuries when his caretaker accidentally ran over him in the driveway of his home.
Cremated, his ashes were scattered at Railroad Park
Contributed on 3/8/09 by goldwing.traveler
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Record #: 66285