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Dale Evans

January 01, 1970

For the Australian footballer, see Dale Evans (footballer). For the American football player and coach, see Dale Evans (American football).

Dale Evans Rogers (born Frances Octavia Smith; October 31, 1912 – February 7, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She was the second wife of singing cowboy film star Roy Rogers.

Dale Evans
Evans in 1947
Born
Frances Octavia Smith

(1912-10-31)October 31, 1912
Uvalde, Texas, U.S.
DiedFebruary 7, 2001(2001-02-07) (aged 88)
Apple Valley, California, U.S.
Resting placeSunset Hills Memorial Park, Apple Valley
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • recording artist
Years active1942–2001
Spouses
Thomas Frederick Fox
​
​
(m. 1927; div. 1929)​
August Wayne Johns
​
​
(m. 1929; div. 1935)​
Robert Dale Butts
​
​
(m. 1937; div. 1946)​
​
​
(m. 1947; died 1998)​
Children6

Early life edit

 
Evans' childhood home in Uvalde, TX

Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith on October 31, 1912, in Uvalde, Texas, to Bettie Sue Wood and T. Hillman Smith.[1][a] She had a tumultuous early life. She spent a lot of time living with her uncle, Dr. L.D. Massey MD FACP, an internal medicine physician, in Osceola, Arkansas. At age 14, she eloped with and married Thomas F. Fox, with whom she had one son, Thomas F. Fox Jr., when she was 15. A year later, abandoned by her husband, she found herself in Memphis, Tennessee, a single parent pursuing a career in music.[3] She landed jobs with Memphis radio stations (WMC and WREC), singing and playing piano. Divorced in 1929, she took the name Dale Evans while working at radio station WHAS (Louisville, Kentucky) in the early 1930s after the station manager suggested it because he believed she could promote her singing career with a short pleasant sounding name that announcers and disc jockeys could easily pronounce.[4]

Early career edit

 
Evans' embroidered white leather gauntlets
 
Evans' pink rhinestone cowboy boots

After beginning her career singing at the radio station where she was employed as a secretary, Evans had a productive career as a jazz, swing, and big band singer that led to a screen test and contract with 20th Century Fox studios. She gained exposure on radio as the featured singer for a time on the Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy show.

Throughout this early period, Evans went through two additional failed marriages, first with August Wayne Johns from 1929 to 1935; then with accompanist and arranger Robert Dale Butts from 1937 to 1946. Neither marriage produced children. During her time at 20th Century Fox, the studio promoted her as the unmarried supporter of her teenage "brother" Tommy (actually her son Tom Fox, Jr.), a deception that continued through her divorce from Butts in 1946 and her development as a cowgirl co-star to Roy Rogers at Republic Studios.[5]

Joint efforts edit

Evans married Roy Rogers on New Year's Eve 1947 at the Flying L Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma, where they had earlier filmed the movie Home in Oklahoma.[6] The successful marriage was Rogers' third and Evans' fourth; the two were a team on- and off-screen from 1946 until Rogers' death in 1998. Shortly after the wedding, Evans ended the deception regarding her son Tommy. Roy had an adopted daughter, Cheryl, and two biological children, Linda and Roy Jr. (Dusty), from his second marriage. Together they had one child, Robin Elizabeth, who died of complications of Down syndrome shortly before her second birthday. Her life inspired Evans to write her bestseller Angel Unaware. Evans was very influential in changing public perceptions of children with developmental disabilities and served as a role model for many parents. After she wrote Angel Unaware, a group then known as the “Oklahoma County Council for Mentally Retarded Children” adopted its better-known name Dale Rogers Training Center in her honor. She went on to write a number of religious and inspirational books, and she and Roy appeared many times with Billy Graham in Crusades all over the country, singing gospel songs and giving their testimony.[5] Evans and Rogers adopted four other children: Mimi, Dodie, Sandy, and Debbie.[7]

From 1951 to 1957, Evans and Rogers starred in the highly-successful television series The Roy Rogers Show, in which they continued their cowboy and cowgirl roles, with her riding her trusty buckskin horse, Buttermilk. In addition to her successful TV shows, more than 30 films and some 200 songs, Evans wrote the song "Happy Trails".[8] In later episodes of the program, she was outspoken in her Christianity, telling people that God would assist them with their troubles and imploring adults and children to turn to Him for guidance. In late 1962, the couple co-hosted a comedy-western-variety program, The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show.[8]

In 1964, Evans spoke at a "Project Prayer" rally attended by 2,500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The gathering, which was hosted by actor Anthony Eisley, star of ABC's Hawaiian Eye series, sought to flood the United States Congress with letters in support of mandatory school prayer, following two decisions in 1962 and 1963 of the United States Supreme Court which struck down mandatory prayer as conflicting with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[9]

Evans supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election.[10]

 
Roy Rogers and Evans at Knott's Berry Farm in the 1970s

Joining Evans and Eisley at the Project Prayer rally were Walter Brennan, Lloyd Nolan, Rhonda Fleming, Pat Boone, and Gloria Swanson. Evans declared, "It's high time that all America stood up to be counted. Let our children learn of the Lord and be free." Eisley and Fleming added that Rogers, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Mary Pickford, Jane Russell, Ginger Rogers, and Pat Buttram would have attended the rally had their schedules permitted.[9] In the 1970s, Evans recorded several solo albums of religious music. During the 1980s, the couple introduced their films weekly on the former The Nashville Network. In the 1990s, Evans hosted her own religious television program.

 
Evans (right) with Roy Rogers at the 1989 Academy Awards

Death edit

Evans died of congestive heart failure on February 7, 2001, at the age of 88, in Apple Valley, California. She is interred at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Apple Valley, next to Rogers.[11][12]

Legacy edit

For her contribution to radio, Evans has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6638 Hollywood Blvd. She received a second star at 1737 Vine St. for her contribution to the television industry. In 1976, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum[13] in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1995, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.[14] In 1997, she was inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame.[15] She ranked No. 34 on CMT's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music in 2002.[16]

Cheryl Rogers-Barnett, a daughter of Roy Rogers and step-daughter of Evans, co-authored Cowboy Princess: Life with My Parents, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Frank Thompson.[17]

In 2001, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her and Roy Rogers.[18] In 2018, she was inducted into the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum.[19]

Selected filmography edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ For unknown reasons, the doctor who attended the birth recorded the baby's name as Lucille Wood Smith, a fact of which she was unaware until the 1950s, when she needed a copy of her birth certificate in order to obtain a passport.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ White, Raymond E. (2005). King of the Cowboys, Queen of the West: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-2992-1004-5 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ White, p. 4.
  3. ^ Miller Davis, Elise (1955). The Answer is God (First ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. pp. 59–62. LCCN 55009539.
  4. ^ Dale Evans' biography February 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, royrogers.com; accessed May 16, 2014.
  5. ^ a b . The Roy Rogers – Dale Evans Museum. Archived from the original on February 17, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
  6. ^ . Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
  7. ^ Staff (July 7, 1998). "Roy Rogers, 'King of the Cowboys' Dies". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ a b Dale Evans at IMDb
  9. ^ a b Drew Pearson (May 14, 1964). (PDF). dspace.wrlc.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  10. ^ Critchlow, Donald T. (October 21, 2013). When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107650282.
  11. ^ Brooks, Patricia; Brooks, Jonathan (2006). "Chapter 8: East L.A. and the Desert". Laid to Rest in California: a guide to the cemeteries and grave sites of the rich and famous. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press. pp. 235–37. ISBN 978-0762741014. OCLC 70284362.
  12. ^ Handbook of Texas Music
  13. ^ "Great Western Performers - National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum". National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  14. ^ "Dale Evans - Cowgirl Hall of Fame & Museum". Cowgirl Hall of Fame & Museum. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  15. ^ "Dale Evans". Western Heritage from the Texas Trail of Fame. May 24, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  16. ^ Shelburne, Craig (August 29, 2002). . Country Music Television. Archived from the original on October 14, 2002. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  17. ^ Cheryl Rogers-Barnett and Frank Thompson, Cowboy Princess: Life with My Parents, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Lanham, Maryland, 2003; ISBN 1-58979-026-X
  18. ^ (by date of dedication); accessed May 16, 2014.
  19. ^ "Hall of Fame Inductees". National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum. Retrieved June 5, 2023.

Further reading edit

  • White, Ray. King of the Cowboys, Queen of the West: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (University of Wisconsin Press).
  • Rogers, Roy, and Evans, Dale, with Jane and Michael Stern. Happy Trails: Our Life Story (Thorndike Press, Thorndike, Maine).
  • Zwisohn, Laurence. (1998). "Dale Evans". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 166–7.

External links edit

January 01, 1970
dale, evans, australian, footballer, footballer, american, football, player, coach, american, football, rogers, born, frances, octavia, smith, october, 1912, february, 2001, american, actress, singer, songwriter, second, wife, singing, cowboy, film, star, roge. For the Australian footballer see Dale Evans footballer For the American football player and coach see Dale Evans American football Dale Evans Rogers born Frances Octavia Smith October 31 1912 February 7 2001 was an American actress singer and songwriter She was the second wife of singing cowboy film star Roy Rogers Dale EvansEvans in 1947BornFrances Octavia Smith 1912 10 31 October 31 1912Uvalde Texas U S DiedFebruary 7 2001 2001 02 07 aged 88 Apple Valley California U S Resting placeSunset Hills Memorial Park Apple ValleyOccupationsActresssingersongwriterrecording artistYears active1942 2001SpousesThomas Frederick Fox m 1927 div 1929 wbr August Wayne Johns m 1929 div 1935 wbr Robert Dale Butts m 1937 div 1946 wbr Roy Rogers m 1947 died 1998 wbr Children6 Contents 1 Early life 2 Early career 3 Joint efforts 4 Death 5 Legacy 6 Selected filmography 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksEarly life edit nbsp Evans childhood home in Uvalde TX Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith on October 31 1912 in Uvalde Texas to Bettie Sue Wood and T Hillman Smith 1 a She had a tumultuous early life She spent a lot of time living with her uncle Dr L D Massey MD FACP an internal medicine physician in Osceola Arkansas At age 14 she eloped with and married Thomas F Fox with whom she had one son Thomas F Fox Jr when she was 15 A year later abandoned by her husband she found herself in Memphis Tennessee a single parent pursuing a career in music 3 She landed jobs with Memphis radio stations WMC and WREC singing and playing piano Divorced in 1929 she took the name Dale Evans while working at radio station WHAS Louisville Kentucky in the early 1930s after the station manager suggested it because he believed she could promote her singing career with a short pleasant sounding name that announcers and disc jockeys could easily pronounce 4 Early career edit nbsp Evans embroidered white leather gauntlets nbsp Evans pink rhinestone cowboy boots After beginning her career singing at the radio station where she was employed as a secretary Evans had a productive career as a jazz swing and big band singer that led to a screen test and contract with 20th Century Fox studios She gained exposure on radio as the featured singer for a time on the Edgar Bergen Charlie McCarthy show Throughout this early period Evans went through two additional failed marriages first with August Wayne Johns from 1929 to 1935 then with accompanist and arranger Robert Dale Butts from 1937 to 1946 Neither marriage produced children During her time at 20th Century Fox the studio promoted her as the unmarried supporter of her teenage brother Tommy actually her son Tom Fox Jr a deception that continued through her divorce from Butts in 1946 and her development as a cowgirl co star to Roy Rogers at Republic Studios 5 Joint efforts editEvans married Roy Rogers on New Year s Eve 1947 at the Flying L Ranch in Davis Oklahoma where they had earlier filmed the movie Home in Oklahoma 6 The successful marriage was Rogers third and Evans fourth the two were a team on and off screen from 1946 until Rogers death in 1998 Shortly after the wedding Evans ended the deception regarding her son Tommy Roy had an adopted daughter Cheryl and two biological children Linda and Roy Jr Dusty from his second marriage Together they had one child Robin Elizabeth who died of complications of Down syndrome shortly before her second birthday Her life inspired Evans to write her bestseller Angel Unaware Evans was very influential in changing public perceptions of children with developmental disabilities and served as a role model for many parents After she wrote Angel Unaware a group then known as the Oklahoma County Council for Mentally Retarded Children adopted its better known name Dale Rogers Training Center in her honor She went on to write a number of religious and inspirational books and she and Roy appeared many times with Billy Graham in Crusades all over the country singing gospel songs and giving their testimony 5 Evans and Rogers adopted four other children Mimi Dodie Sandy and Debbie 7 From 1951 to 1957 Evans and Rogers starred in the highly successful television series The Roy Rogers Show in which they continued their cowboy and cowgirl roles with her riding her trusty buckskin horse Buttermilk In addition to her successful TV shows more than 30 films and some 200 songs Evans wrote the song Happy Trails 8 In later episodes of the program she was outspoken in her Christianity telling people that God would assist them with their troubles and imploring adults and children to turn to Him for guidance In late 1962 the couple co hosted a comedy western variety program The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show 8 In 1964 Evans spoke at a Project Prayer rally attended by 2 500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles The gathering which was hosted by actor Anthony Eisley star of ABC s Hawaiian Eye series sought to flood the United States Congress with letters in support of mandatory school prayer following two decisions in 1962 and 1963 of the United States Supreme Court which struck down mandatory prayer as conflicting with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution 9 Evans supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election 10 nbsp Roy Rogers and Evans at Knott s Berry Farm in the 1970s Joining Evans and Eisley at the Project Prayer rally were Walter Brennan Lloyd Nolan Rhonda Fleming Pat Boone and Gloria Swanson Evans declared It s high time that all America stood up to be counted Let our children learn of the Lord and be free Eisley and Fleming added that Rogers John Wayne Ronald Reagan Mary Pickford Jane Russell Ginger Rogers and Pat Buttram would have attended the rally had their schedules permitted 9 In the 1970s Evans recorded several solo albums of religious music During the 1980s the couple introduced their films weekly on the former The Nashville Network In the 1990s Evans hosted her own religious television program nbsp Evans right with Roy Rogers at the 1989 Academy AwardsDeath editEvans died of congestive heart failure on February 7 2001 at the age of 88 in Apple Valley California She is interred at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Apple Valley next to Rogers 11 12 Legacy editFor her contribution to radio Evans has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6638 Hollywood Blvd She received a second star at 1737 Vine St for her contribution to the television industry In 1976 she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy amp Western Heritage Museum 13 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma In 1995 she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth Texas 14 In 1997 she was inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame 15 She ranked No 34 on CMT s 40 Greatest Women in Country Music in 2002 16 Cheryl Rogers Barnett a daughter of Roy Rogers and step daughter of Evans co authored Cowboy Princess Life with My Parents Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Frank Thompson 17 In 2001 a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her and Roy Rogers 18 In 2018 she was inducted into the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum 19 Selected filmography editOrchestra Wives 1942 Girl Trouble 1942 Swing Your Partner 1943 The West Side Kid 1943 Hoosier Holiday 1943 Here Comes Elmer 1943 In Old Oklahoma 1943 Casanova in Burlesque 1944 Cowboy and the Senorita 1944 The Yellow Rose of Texas 1944 Song of Nevada 1944 San Fernando Valley 1944 Lights of Old Santa Fe 1944 The Big Show Off 1945 Utah 1945 Bells of Rosarita 1945 The Man from Oklahoma 1945 Hitchhike to Happiness 1945 Along the Navajo Trail 1945 Sunset in El Dorado 1945 Don t Fence Me In 1945 Song of Arizona 1946 Rainbow Over Texas 1946 My Pal Trigger 1946 Under Nevada Skies 1946 Roll on Texas Moon 1946 Home in Oklahoma 1946 Out California Way 1946 Heldorado 1946 Apache Rose 1947 Bells of San Angelo 1947 The Trespasser 1947 Slippy McGee 1948 Susanna Pass 1949 Down Dakota Way 1949 The Golden Stallion 1949 Bells of Coronado 1950 Twilight in the Sierras 1950 Trigger Jr 1950 South of Caliente 1951 Pals of the Golden West 1951 Notes edit For unknown reasons the doctor who attended the birth recorded the baby s name as Lucille Wood Smith a fact of which she was unaware until the 1950s when she needed a copy of her birth certificate in order to obtain a passport 2 References edit White Raymond E 2005 King of the Cowboys Queen of the West Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Madison WI University of Wisconsin Press p 4 ISBN 978 0 2992 1004 5 via Google Books White p 4 Miller Davis Elise 1955 The Answer is God First ed New York McGraw Hill Book Co pp 59 62 LCCN 55009539 Dale Evans biography Archived February 17 2008 at the Wayback Machine royrogers com accessed May 16 2014 a b Dale Evans Biography The Roy Rogers Dale Evans Museum Archived from the original on February 17 2008 Retrieved February 5 2008 Happy Trails Forever Honoring the King of the Cowboys amp Queen of the West Roy Rogers amp Dale Evans Their Story Archived from the original on March 6 2008 Retrieved February 6 2008 Staff July 7 1998 Roy Rogers King of the Cowboys Dies Los Angeles Times a b Dale Evans at IMDb a b Drew Pearson May 14 1964 The Washington Merry Go Round PDF dspace wrlc org Archived from the original PDF on January 16 2013 Retrieved January 13 2013 Critchlow Donald T October 21 2013 When Hollywood Was Right How Movie Stars Studio Moguls and Big Business Remade American Politics Cambridge University Press ISBN 9781107650282 Brooks Patricia Brooks Jonathan 2006 Chapter 8 East L A and the Desert Laid to Rest in California a guide to the cemeteries and grave sites of the rich and famous Guilford CT Globe Pequot Press pp 235 37 ISBN 978 0762741014 OCLC 70284362 Handbook of Texas Music Great Western Performers National Cowboy amp Western Heritage Museum National Cowboy amp Western Heritage Museum Retrieved May 13 2017 Dale Evans Cowgirl Hall of Fame amp Museum Cowgirl Hall of Fame amp Museum Retrieved May 13 2017 Dale Evans Western Heritage from the Texas Trail of Fame May 24 2013 Retrieved May 13 2017 Shelburne Craig August 29 2002 40 Greatest Women of Country Music Country Music Television Archived from the original on October 14 2002 Retrieved March 8 2021 Cheryl Rogers Barnett and Frank Thompson Cowboy Princess Life with My Parents Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Lanham Maryland 2003 ISBN 1 58979 026 X Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date of dedication accessed May 16 2014 Hall of Fame Inductees National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum Retrieved June 5 2023 Further reading editWhite Ray King of the Cowboys Queen of the West Roy Rogers and Dale Evans University of Wisconsin Press Rogers Roy and Evans Dale with Jane and Michael Stern Happy Trails Our Life Story Thorndike Press Thorndike Maine Zwisohn Laurence 1998 Dale Evans In The Encyclopedia of Country Music Paul Kingsbury Editor New York Oxford University Press pp 166 7 External links edit nbsp Biography portal Dale Evans Movie Dale Evans Production Dale Evans Memorial Archived January 29 2007 at the Wayback Machine Dale Evans at IMDb Dale Evans at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dale Evans amp oldid 1215566489, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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