Roy Rogers, Cowboy Star, Dies At 86 -- `Good, Honest Man' In Life And Film, He Was Hero Of Movies, Songs, TV

LOS ANGELES - Roy Rogers, the singing "King of the Cowboys" whose straight-shooting exploits with wife Dale Evans made him a hero to generations of fans, died today. He was 86.

Rogers had been ill for some time and suffered from congestive heart failure. He died in his sleep with his wife and children present at his Mojave Desert home in Apple Valley, Calif.

Miss Evans, 85, remembered him as "a wonderful human being. What a blessing to have shared my life together with him for almost 51 years. To say I will miss him is a gross understatement. He was truly the king of the cowboys in my life."

President Clinton said, "Today there will be a lot of sad and grateful Americans, especially of my generation, because of his career."

Clinton said he grew up admiring Mr. Rogers' American values, cowboy exploits and rags-to-riches success story.

Mr. Rogers was a Depression-era truck driver, peach picker and country singer who in 1937 sneaked into Republic Studio and landed a $75-a-week-job as a singing cowboy.

He became famed for his signature tune "Happy Trails to You" and for about 100 films in which he played a clean-living cowboy who never got to kiss the girl but sometimes kissed his horse.

From 1943 to 1954, he was the No. 1 Western box-office star.

Loaded with fights - always fair - and chases that corralled the bad guys, films such as "Under Western Stars" and "Song of Arizona," were especially popular in small towns. His 1951-57 television series, which ran thereafter in reruns, had similar appeal.

Mr. Rogers preferred to play down violence, shooting the gun out of the villain's hand, rather than hurting the villain himself. He criticized other, more violent Westerns.

"When I was a boy, our parents taught us that hitting below the belt was a cowardly thing," he once said. "I don't believe this kind of thing is `entertainment' no matter how you look at it."

He co-starred with Miss Evans, whom he married in 1947. She co-wrote "Happy Trails to You."

Mr. Rogers became famed throughout the land for having the smartest horse, his golden palomino Trigger, the bravest dog, Bullet, and the best outfits - white hat included.

His sidekick in films was bewhiskered Gabby Hayes, in television Pat Brady and his jeep, Nellybelle.

`An introvert at heart'

At the peak of his fame, the Sears Catalog carried 400 products bearing his name and his picture appeared on 2.5 billion boxes of Post cereals. Roy Rogers comic books sold 25 million copies a year, and it seemed that almost every boy in America during the 1940s and 1950s went to school with a Roy Rogers lunchbox.

Mr. Rogers' rodeo grossed $425,000 on a tour of state fairs, and he estimated it cost $30,000 in 1960 just to answer his fan mail.

"I'm an introvert at heart," Mr. Rogers once said. "And show business - even though I've loved it so much - has always been hard for me."

It made him a millionaire, though. His investments included real estate, a chain of restaurants bearing his name, and a TV production company.

Mr. Rogers' success mirrored that of cowboy rival Gene Autry.

"We have been close friends for half a century. This is a terrible loss for me," Autry said today. "I had tremendous respect for Roy and considered him a great humanitarian and an outstanding American. He was, and will always be, a true Western hero."

Said film critic Leonard Maltin: "He came from nothing. He earned everything he ever had. . . . He portrayed himself as a good, honest man, and that's what he was."

In June 1967, he and Miss Evans opened an 18,000-square-foot museum near their home, some 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Included in the displays is Trigger, stuffed after his death in 1965.

"So many people loved him through the years, that I just didn't have the heart to put him in the ground," Mr. Rogers said.

A Son of the Pioneers

Mr. Rogers was born Leonard Slye (some references say Sly) on Nov. 5, 1911, in Cincinnati, of part-Indian ancestry. The family moved to California in 1930.

He made his first mark as a singer in the mid-1930s, co-founding the Pioneer Trio, soon renamed the Sons of the Pioneers. The group was popular for hits such as "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and "Cool Water."

Rogers' first film appearances were as a member of the Sons. But he left the group in the late '30s as his film career prospered.

Wrote Variety of one of his early pictures, 1938's "Under Western Stars": "In Roy Rogers producers present a cowboy who looks like a wrangler, is a looker, an actor and a singer. Pushed into a quick starring spot after only a couple of appearances as supporter, he lives up to every expectation and then some."

A family of love and tragedy

He and Miss Evans became well-known for their Christian beliefs and spoke at religious gatherings, including evangelist Billy Graham's. She wrote several inspirational books.

But tragedies tested their faith. They had nine children - two by his previous marriage, one by hers, one of their own, four by adoption and one by foster parenthood.

Their daughter Robin, who was retarded, died of complications from mumps shortly before her second birthday in 1952. Dale's first book, "Angel Unaware," was about Robin.

Korean-born daughter Debbie was killed with seven others in a 1964 church bus crash, and the following year, their son John choked to death while serving in the Army.

"In the Bible, it doesn't say you're going to get by without having troubles," Mr. Rogers once said. "I'm not a fanatic about religion. I think it's a practical way of life."

"People say, `How can you be in the motion picture business and be a Christian?' " he once said. "I say, `Why not?' If the good Lord hadn't wanted me in the picture business, I wouldn't be in it."

Singing late in life

In 1991, Mr. Rogers released an album of old and new songs, "Tribute." It featured country superstar Clint Black on "Hold On Partner."

Mr. Rogers was twice elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame: as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers in 1980, and as an individual in 1988. An effort in recent years by fans to persuade the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to give Mr. Rogers and Miss Evans honorary Oscars was unsuccessful.

He and Miss Evans last performed together at a charity benefit celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on May 17, 1997.

Mr. Rogers is survived by Miss Evans; sons Roy Rogers Jr. and Tom Fox; daughters Cheryl Barnett, Linda Lou Johnson and Dodie Sailors; 15 grandchildren; and 33 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service was planned for Saturday in Apple Valley.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

------------------ Roy Rogers' career ------------------

Films include:

"Tumbling Tumbleweeds," 1935.

"The Big Show," 1936.

"Rhythm on the Range," 1936.

"Under Western Stars," 1938.

"Billy the Kid Returns," 1938.

"The Arizona Kid," 1939.

"Days of Jesse James," 1939.

"Dark Command," 1940.

"The Border Legion," 1940.

"Robin Hood of the Pecos," 1941.

"Red River Valley," 1941.

"Sons of the Pioneers," 1942.

"Romance on the Range," 1942.

"King of the Cowboys," 1943.

"Song of Texas," 1943.

"The Cowboy and the Senorita," 1944.

"The Yellow Rose of Texas," 1944.

"Lake Placid Serenade," 1944.

"Utah," 1945.

"Don't Fence Me In," 1945.

"My Pal Trigger," 1946.

"Song of Arizona," 1946.

"Helldorado," 1946.

"Apache Rose," 1947.

"Springtime in the Sierras," 1947.

"Eyes of Texas," 1948.

"Melody Time," 1948.

"Grand Canyon Trail," 1949.

"North of the Great Divide," 1950.

"Heart of the Rockies," 1951.

"Son of Paleface," 1952.

"Alias Jesse James" (cameo), 1959.

"Mackintosh and T.J.," 1975

Television:

"The Roy Rogers Show," 1951-57.

"The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show," 1962-63.

Recordings include:

"Tumbling Tumbleweeds," 1934 (Sons of the Pioneers).

"Cool Water," 1936 (Sons of the Pioneers).

"A Little White Cross on the Hill," 1947.

"My Chickashay Gal," 1947.

"Pecos Bill," 1948.

"Blue Shadows on the Trail," 1948.

"Stampede," 1950.

"Money Can't Buy Love," 1970.

"Lovenworth," 1971.

"Happy Anniversary," 1971.

"These Are the Good Old Days," 1972.

"Hoppy, Gene and Me," 1974.

"Ride, Concrete Cowboy, Ride," 1980 (with Sons of the Pioneers).

"Hold On Partner," 1991 (with Clint Black).

The Associated Press.