Legacy
On November 16, 1941, the town of Berwyn, Oklahoma, north of Ardmore, was renamed in honor of Gene Autry.
In 1972 he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Autry was a life member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Burbank Lodge No. 1497. His 1976 autobiography, co-written by Mickey Herskowitz, was titled Back in the Saddle Again after his 1939 hit and signature tune. He is also featured year after year, on radio and "shopping mall music" at the holiday season, by his recording of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." "Rudolph" became the first No. 1 hit of the 1950s. CMT in 2003 ranked him No. 38 in CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.
When the Anaheim Angels won their first World Series in 2002, much of the championship was dedicated to him. The interchange of Interstate 5 and State Route 134, located near the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, is signed as the "Gene Autry Memorial Interchange." In 2007, he became a charter member of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in Richmond, Indiana.
Johnny Cash recorded a song in 1978 about Autry called "Who is Gene Autry?" Cash also got Autry to sign his famous black Martin D-35 guitar, which he plays in the video of "Hurt."
Autry was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2004, the Starz Entertainment Corporation joined forces with the Autry estate to restore all of his films, which have been shown on Starz's Encore Western Channel on cable television on a regular basis to date since.
Autry was inducted into the in 1991.
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Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)