December 17 - Rex Allen

On this day, in 1999, Rex Elvie Allen passed away in Tucson, Arizona. Rex was born on the last day of 1920 on a ranch near Wilcox, Arizona. His father played a mean fiddle and little Rex would sing and play guitar with him at social functions around the area. After graduating from high school, he toured the Southwest United States as a rodeo cowboy for a few years before heading to the East Coast to try his luck as a singer on the vaudeville circuits. He eventually settled in Chicago as a performer on WLS’ National Barn Dance, the precursor to the Grand Ole Opry.

In 1949, at the height of the popularity of singing cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, Rex moved to Hollywood, got a screen test with Republic Pictures and became one of the top ten box office draws of the era. He partnered with Buddy Ebsen for a while then teamed up with Slim Pickens in movies with titles like Rodeo King and the Senorita and Shadows of Tombstone. At the same time, he’d signed a deal with Mercury Records and began belting out a string of hit Country singles. When that deal ran out, Rex switched to Decca where he continued to press records well into the Seventies. One of those singles, Don’t Go Near the Indians, reached the top five of the Country charts in 1962.

Image copyright Disney

Rex came to the table a little late as the western phase in Hollywood began to wind down by the mid Fifties. In fact, he had the dubious pleasure of making the very last singing cowboy film, The Phantom Stallion, released in 1954. His attempt to transition into television began and ended with a one season stint on a show called Frontier Doctor. Fortunately, the rich tones of his voice would become his saving grace. Rex was hired by the Walt Disney Studio in the early Sixties to narrate some of their nature films. His voice overs worked so well, he would go on to narrate over 80 films and television episodes for the company throughout the decade. He can be heard on films like Run, Appaloosa, Run, Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar and the 1963 version of The Incredible Journey. All his narrative worked earned him the nickname “the Voice of the West.” Walt liked his sound so much, he asked Rex to play the role of Father for the GE sponsored attraction being built for the 1964 World’s Fair, Carousel of Progress (he was replaced as Father in 1993 by Jean Shepherd of A Christmas Story fame but can still be heard as Grandfather).

Image courtesy of ioffer.com

After his work with Disney, Rex continued a fairly prolific voice over career. In 1973 he narrated the animated version of Charlotte’s Web and for the rest of his life he recorded hundreds of tracks for various national commercials, the lengthiest contract of which was for Purina Dog Chow. In 1996, Rex was named an official Disney Legend for lending his voice to so many projects over the years. Tragically, three years later, at the age of 79, he would be accidently run over by his care giver in his driveway and suffer fatal injuries.