Editing Gene Autry (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:Display of Gene Autry memorabilia.JPG|thumb|Display of Gene Autry memorabilia at the Autry National Center, including his original [[Martin D-45]] guitar, the first one made]]
On November 16, 1941, the town of Berwyn, Oklahoma, north of [[Ardmore, Oklahoma|Ardmore]], was renamed [[Gene Autry, Oklahoma|Gene Autry]] in his honor.<ref name="OHOF">{{Cite web|url=http://www77.oklahomaheritage.com/|title=Oklahomaheritage.com|website=77.oklahomaheritage.com}}</ref> Though Autry was born in [[Tioga, Texas]], his family moved to [[Oklahoma]] while he was an infant. He was raised in the southern Oklahoma towns of [[Achille, Oklahoma|Achille]] and [[Ravia, Oklahoma|Ravia]]. Autry had also worked as a [[telegraphist|telegraph operator]] near Berwyn.<ref name="SaddleAgain">{{cite web | url=https://www.tulsaworld.com/entertainment/movies/jimmie-tramel-back-in-saddle-again-let-s-revisit-oklahoma/article_f3c8bac5-fdb2-5ec7-bd4f-39269b992d6f.html | title= Back in Saddle Again; Let's revisit Oklahoma town (Gene Autry) with famous cowboy's name | date= September 16, 2019 | publisher= Jimmie Tramel, Tulsa World, September 16, 2019| access-date=September 16, 2019}}</ref> In 1939, he bought the {{convert|1,200|acre|km2|adj=on}} Flying A Ranch on the west edge of Berwyn, and the town decided to honor him by changing its name. Approximately 35,000 people attended the ceremonies broadcast live from the site on Autry's ''[[Gene Autry's Melody Ranch|Melody Ranch]]'' radio show. Expectations that Autry would make his permanent home on the ranch were heightened when Autry's house in California burned down just 8 days before the name change ceremony, but dashed three weeks later with the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]].<ref name ="SaddleAgain"/> Autry
joined the military in 1942 and sold the ranch after the war.<ref name ="SaddleAgain"/>

In 1972, he was inducted into the [[Hall of Great Western Performers]] at the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum|National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center]] in [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]]. Autry was a life member of the [[Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks]], Burbank Lodge No.&nbsp;1497. His 1976 autobiography, co-written by [[Mickey Herskowitz]], was titled ''Back in the Saddle Again'' after [[Back in the Saddle Again|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 (song)|Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer]]". "Rudolph" became the first No.&nbsp;1 hit of the 1950s.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} In 2003, he was ranked No.&nbsp;38 in [[CMT (American TV channel)|CMT]]'s list of the ''40 Greatest Men of Country Music''.

In 1977, Autry was awarded the American Patriots Medal by [[Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge|Freedoms Foundation]] of [[Valley Forge, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="medal">{{cite web|title=66th Legislature, Resolutions – Congratulatory and Honorary|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=587&searchparams=chamber=~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=~gender=~last=Smothers~leaderNote=~leg=~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=#bio|website=Lrl.state.tx.us|access-date=October 11, 2013}}</ref>

[[Johnny Cash]] recorded a song in 1978 about Autry called "Who is Gene Autry?" Cash also got Autry to sign his famous black [[C. F. Martin & Company|Martin]] D-35 guitar, which he plays in the video of "[[Hurt (Nine Inch Nails song)#Johnny Cash version|Hurt]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genius.com/Johnny-cash-whos-gene-autry-lyrics|title=Johnny Cash – Who's Gene Autry?|via=genius.com}}</ref>

In 1983, Autry received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=Achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}</ref>

Autry was inducted into the [[Oklahoma Hall of Fame]] in 1991.<ref name="OHOF" />

When the [[Anaheim Angels]] won their first [[2002 World Series|World Series]] in 2002, much of the championship was dedicated to him. The interchange of [[Interstate 5 (California)|Interstate 5]] and [[California State Route 134|State Route 134]], near the [[Autry Museum of the American West|Autry National Center]] in Los Angeles, is signed as the "Gene Autry Memorial Interchange". There is also a street named after Autry in [[Anaheim, California]], called [https://www.google.com/maps/place/E+Gene+Autry+Way,+Anaheim,+CA/@33.7998129,-117.9000933,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x80dcd790c4396fd1:0x75f0f13f8eab354f!8m2!3d33.7998129!4d-117.8979046?hl=en Gene Autry Way], and there is a street in Palm Springs, California named [https://www.google.com/maps/place/N+Gene+Autry+Trail,+Palm+Springs,+CA/@33.8485434,-116.5078986,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x80db1c12db83a0ed:0x342a58a8db75d617!8m2!3d33.8485434!4d-116.5057099?hl=en Gene Autry Trail].

Autry was inducted into the [[National Radio Hall of Fame]] in 2003. In 2004, [[Starz Inc.|Starz]] joined forces with the Autry estate to restore all of his films, which have been shown on Starz's [[Starz Encore#Starz Encore Westerns|Encore Westerns]] channel on [[pay television|premium television]] on a regular basis to date since.

In 2007, he became a charter member of the [[Gennett Records]] Walk of Fame in [[Richmond, Indiana]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Starr-Gennett Foundation |url=https://www.starrgennettfoundation.org/sgfwof |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Starr-Gennett Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>

In May 2019, [[Warner Chappell Music]] acquired the Gene Autry Music Group, a music publisher comprising four smaller publishers, 1,500 compositions (including "Back in the Saddle Again", "[[Here Comes Santa Claus]]", "[[Just Walkin' in the Rain]]", and "[[You Belong to Me (1952 song)|You Belong To Me]]"), and several of Autry's master recordings.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8513827/warner-chappell-acquires-gene-autry-music-group|magazine=Billboard|title=Warner Chappell Acquires Gene Autry Music Group|date=May 30, 2019|first=Chris|last=Eggertsen}}</ref>

=== Statues ===
==== California ====
* (1988) ''Back in the Saddle Again'' by David Spellerberg (semi-public statue: Autry and his movie horse "Champion"); exterior courtyard, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, California
* (1998) ''Gene Autry Statue'' by De L'Esprie (semi-public statue: Autry with hat in hand); exterior courtyard inside gate 2, [[Angel Stadium|Angel Stadium/Edison International Field of Anaheim]], Anaheim, California
* (2009) ''[https://www.publicartinpublicplaces.info/gene-autry-2009-by-del-esprie Gene Autry, America's Favorite Singing Cowboy]'' by De L'Esprie (public statue: Autry seated, with guitar); [[Palm Springs, California]]

=== Hollywood Walk of Fame ===
[[File:Gene Autry Star.png|thumb|Gene Autry's television star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame]]
Autry is the only person to have five stars on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], one in each of the five categories defined by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geneautry.com/clubhouse/places/hollywood_walkoffame.html |title=The Official Website for Gene Autry – Hollywood Walk of Fame |website=geneautry.com |publisher=Gene Autry Entertainment |access-date=November 8, 2017 |archive-date=November 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109022223/http://www.geneautry.com/clubhouse/places/hollywood_walkoffame.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> All of Autry's stars are located along [[Hollywood Boulevard]]: Recording at 6384, Radio at 6520, [[List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars|Motion pictures]] at 6644, Television at 6667, and Live theatre at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard. His first four stars were placed during the initial inductions of 1960 while the final one was placed in 1987, in the additional category named "Live theatre"—later renamed "Live performance"—introduced in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walkoffame.com/gene-autry |title=Hollywood Walk of Fame – Gene Autry |website=Walkoffame.com |publisher=Hollywood Chamber of Commerce |access-date=November 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walkoffame.com/pages/history |title=Hollywood Walk of Fame – History of the Walk of Fame |website=Walkoffame.com |publisher=Hollywood Chamber of Commerce |access-date=November 8, 2017}}</ref>

=== Museum of the American West ===
The Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles' [[Griffith Park]] was founded in 1988 as the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum featuring much of Autry's personal collection of Western art and memorabilia as well as collections of his friends and other Western film stars. Since 2004, the museum is partnered with the [[Southwest Museum of the American Indian]] and is divided into two locations, eight miles apart from each other.