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Tex Ritter | |
|---|---|
 Ritter in 1966 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Woodward Maurice Ritter |
| Born | (1905-01-12)January 12, 1905 Murvaul, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | January 2, 1974(1974-01-02) (aged 68) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1928–1973 |
| Labels | |
| Spouse | |
Woodward Maurice"Tex" Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of Americancountry music singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s. He was the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (sonJohn Ritter, grandsonsJason Ritter andTyler Ritter, and granddaughter Carly). He is a member of theCountry Music Hall of Fame.
Woodward Maurice Ritter was born on January 12, 1905, inMurvaul, Texas,[1] to Martha Elizabeth (née Matthews) and James Everett Ritter. He grew up on his family's farm inPanola County, Texas, and attended grade school inCarthage, Texas. He attendedSouth Park High School inBeaumont, Texas. After graduating with honors, he entered theUniversity of Texas at Austin in 1922[2] to study pre-law and major in government, political science, and economics. After traveling toChicago with a musical troupe, he enteredNorthwestern Law School.[1]
An early pioneer of country music, Ritter soon became interested in show business. In 1928, he sang onKPRC inHouston, Texas,[3] a 30-minute program of mostly cowboy songs. That same year, he moved toNew York City and landed a job in the men's chorus of theBroadway showThe New Moon (1928). He appeared as cowboy Cord Elam in the Broadway productionGreen Grow the Lilacs (1931),[2] the basis for the musicalOklahoma! He also played the part of Sagebrush Charlie inThe Round Up (1932)[4] andMother Lode (1934).
In 1932, he starred in New York City's first broadcast Western,The Lone Star Rangers onWOR, where he sang and told tales of theOld West. Ritter wrote and starred inCowboy Tom's Roundup onWINS in 1933, a daily children's cowboy program aired over two otherEast Coast stations for three years. He also performed on the radio showWHN Barndance and sang onNBC Radio shows; and appeared in several radio dramas, includingCBS'sBobby Benson's Adventures.[5]
In 1936, Ritter moved to Los Angeles. His motion picture debut was inSong of the Gringo (1936) forGrand National Pictures.[2] He went on to appear in 70 movies as an actor, and 76 on movie soundtracks. He attracted special attention in 1952 for his rendition of "The Ballad of High Noon" over the opening credits of the celebrated filmHigh Noon, and later sang it at that year'sAcademy Awards ceremony, where it wonBest Original Song.
Ritter's recording career was his most successful period. He was the first artist signed with the newly formedCapitol Records in 1942.[1]
In 1944, he scored a hit with "I'm Wastin' My Tears on You", which hit number one on the country chart and number 11 on the pop chart. An article in the trade publicationBillboard noted 14 years later that with that song, he "reached the style of rhythmic tune that would assure his musical stature".[6]
In 1952 Ritter recorded "The Ballad of High Noon" for the filmHigh Noon. He performed the track at the first televisedAcademy Awards ceremony in 1953, and it received an Oscar forBest Song that year.[7]
When television began to compete with movies for American audiences, Ritter began to make appearances on the new medium following 71 straight movie appearances. In 1953, he began performing onTown Hall Party on radio and television in Los Angeles. In 1957, he co-hostedRanch Party, a syndicated version of the show. He made his national TV debut in 1955 on ABC-TV'sOzark Jubilee and was one of five rotating hosts for its 1961 NBC-TV spin-off,Five Star Jubilee.
Ritter became one of the founding members of theCountry Music Association inNashville, Tennessee, and spearheaded the effort to build theCountry Music Hall of Fame and Museum into which he was inducted in 1964.[2]
He moved to Nashville in 1965 and began working for radio stationWSM and theGrand Ole Opry, earning a lifetime membership in the latter in 1970.[2]
In 1970, Ritter entered Tennessee's Republican primary election for United States Senate. Despite high name recognition, he lost the nomination to United States RepresentativeBill Brock, who then defeated the incumbent SenatorAlbert Gore, Sr. in the general election.
Tex Ritter married movie actressDorothy Fay on June 14, 1941. They raised their two sons inLos Angeles and then he and Dorothy moved toNashville, Tennessee in 1965, as Tex wasn't acting and was solely focused on singing & recording. He died of a heart attack in Nashville on January 2, 1974, at age 68. He was survived by Dorothy and their two sons, Tom andJohn. In a few years, John became famous as an actor, playingJack Tripper on the ABC sitcomThree's Company (1977–1984). In 2003, John died, at the age of 54, of anaortic dissection. Because John was initially diagnosed as having a heart attack, and because aortic dissection is known to be hereditary, the family now believes that Tex died of an aortic dissection rather than a heart attack.[8]
For his contribution to the recording industry, Ritter has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 6631Hollywood Boulevard.[9] In 1980, he was inducted into theWestern Performers Hall of Fame[10] at theNational Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum inOklahoma City,Oklahoma. He was a member of the charter group of inductees into theTexas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, in 1998.[11]
In 1986, Ritter was honored posthumously with aGolden Boot Award for his work in Western films.[12]
Ritter can still be heard as the voice of Big Al, anaudio-animatronicbear, atDisney theme park attractionCountry Bear Jamboree atTokyo Disneyland inUrayasu,Chiba,Japan, and formerly at theMagic Kingdom atWalt Disney World andDisneyland inAnaheim, California.
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | "Children's Songs and Stories" (4 p's 78's in a cover with pictures) | Capitol | |
| 1954 | Cowboy Favorites (4 p's 78's in a cover with pictures) | ||
| 1958 | Songs from the Western Screen | ||
| Psalms | |||
| 1960 | Blood on the Saddle | ||
| 1961 | Lincoln Hymns | ||
| Hillbilly Heaven | |||
| 1962 | Stan Kenton! Tex Ritter! | ||
| 1963 | Border Affair | ||
| 1965 | Friendly Voice | ||
| 1966 | The Best of Tex Ritter | 38 | |
| 1967 | Sweet Land of Liberty | 43 | |
| Just Beyond the Moon | 18 | ||
| 1968 | Bump Tiddil Dee Bum Bum! | 38 | |
| Tennessee Blues (Label: Hilltop Records) | |||
| Wild West | |||
| 1969 | Chuck Wagon Days | ||
| 1970 | Green Green Valley | ||
| 1972 | Super Country Legendary | ||
| 1973 | An American Legend | 7 | |
| 1974 | Fall Away | 44 | |
| 1976 | Comin' After Jinny |
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US [13] | |||
| 1944 | "I'm Wastin' My Tears on You" | 1 | 11 | singles only |
| "There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder" | 2 | 21 | ||
| 1945 | "Jealous Heart" | 2 | ||
| "You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often" | 1 | |||
| 1946 | "You Will Have To Pay" | 1 | ||
| "Christmas Carols by the Old Corral" | 2 | |||
| "Long Time Gone" | 5 | |||
| "When You Leave, Don't Slam the Door" | 3 | |||
| "Have I Told You Lately that I Love You?" | 3 | |||
| 1948 | "Rye Whiskey" | 9 | ||
| "The Deck of Cards" | 10 | |||
| "Pecos Bill"(w/ Andy Parker & The Plainsmen) | 15 | |||
| "Rock and Rye" | 5 | |||
| 1950 | "Daddy's Last Letter" | 6 | ||
| 1952 | "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)" | 12 | ||
| 1956 | "The Wayward Wind" | 28 | ||
| 1961 | "I Dreamed of a Hill-Billy Heaven" | 5 | 20 | Hillbilly Heaven |
| 1966 | "The Men in My Little Girl's Life" | 50 | Just Beyond the Moon | |
| 1967 | "Just Beyond the Moon" | 13 | ||
| "A Working Man's Prayer" | 59 | single only | ||
| 1968 | "Texas" | 69 | Wild West | |
| 1969 | "A Funny Thing Happened (On the Way to Miami)" | 53 | singles only | |
| "Growin' Up" | 39 | |||
| 1970 | "Green Green Valley" | 57 | Green Green Valley | |
| 1971 | "Fall Away" | 67 | Fall Away | |
| 1972 | "Comin' After Jinny" | 67 | Comin' After Jinny | |
| 1974 | "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)" | 35 | 90 | An American Legend |
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