Smiley Burnette

Biography: Lester Alvin "Smiley" Burnette started out as a hillbilly radio singer on such musical weeklies as The National Barn Dance. Forming a strong friendship with another radio crooner, Gene Autry, Burnette accompanied Autry to Hollywood where they made their joint film debut in 1934. When Autry was elevated to stardom at Republic, Burnette was hired as comedy relief "Frog" Millhouse. He went on to co-star in 81 Autry features and was also cast opposite Charles Starrett in Columbia's Durango Kid series. During his Hollywood career, Burnette composed close to 300 songs, many of which he performed onscreen. One of the few comic sidekicks who was a popular film attraction in his own right, Burnette was for many years one of Hollywood's Top Ten moneymaking personalities and even starred in his own series of comic books. Aware of his importance as a role model, he did his best to behave himself offscreen and at one point was given an award by the National Safety Council for "wearing out"Lester Alvin "Smiley" Burnette started out as a hillbilly radio singer on such musical weeklies as The National Barn Dance. Forming a strong friendship with another radio crooner, Gene Autry, Burnette accompanied Autry to Hollywood where they made their joint film debut in 1934. When Autry was elevated to stardom at Republic, Burnette was hired as comedy relief "Frog" Millhouse. He went on to co-star in 81 Autry features and was also cast opposite Charles Starrett in Columbia's Durango Kid series. During his Hollywood career, Burnette composed close to 300 songs, many of which he performed onscreen. One of the few comic sidekicks who was a popular film attraction in his own right, Burnette was for many years one of Hollywood's Top Ten moneymaking personalities and even starred in his own series of comic books. Aware of his importance as a role model, he did his best to behave himself offscreen and at one point was given an award by the National Safety Council for "wearing out" 27 cars without a single accident! Curtailing his movie and TV activities when Gene Autry retired from films in 1953, Smiley Burnette returned before the cameras as railroad engineer Charlie Pratt on TV's Petticoat Junction, a role he held down from 1963 to his death from leukemia in 1967.… Expand