He wrote over 200 songs. A savvy businessman, he retired from acting in the early 1960s and became a multi-millionaire from his investments in hotels, real estate, radio stations and the California Angels professional baseball team.

Composer, songwriter ("Back in the Saddle Again","That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine"), actor, author and businessman, educated at Ravia (Oklahoma) High School. In World War he was a flight officer for the United States Army Air Force. He won the National Parents-Teachers Film Award for the films and television programs he produced. He joined ASCAP in 1939, and his other popular-song compositions include: "Here Comes Santa Claus"; "Be Honest With Me"; "Tears on My Pillow"; "Dixie Cannonball"; "Good Old-Fashioned Hoedown"; "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven"; and "I Wish I Had Never Met Sunshine".

Orvon Gene Autry is considered by many to be the greatest western star of all time. He earned the designation of "America's Favorite Cowboy". He was "discovered" by Will Rogers while working as a telegrapher. One of his stars on the Walk of fame is for Live Performance (including rodeo), not live theater. Also, "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine" sold over 500,000 copies in its first release. He is the first artist in history to have a gold record. Also, he is also the first artist to ever sell 1,000,000 copies of a record - "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine". He was also the first artist ever to sell out Madison Square Garden. His song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is the second highest selling Christmas song of all time. It has sold over 30 million copies.

In 1940, he was the 4th highest grossing box office attraction according to Theater Exhibitors of America. The only stars above him were Mickey Rooney, Clark Gable, and Spencer Tracy. By 1948, Dell Publishing was printing over 1,000,000 Gene Autry Comic Books per year. Gene Autry was #49 on CMT's 50 Greatest Men of Country Music, and he also had 2 songs on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs Of Country. Everything Gene touched seemed to turn to gold. After he retired from acting, he had many successful business ventures, including radio and television stations. He also owned the California Angels. When he sold part of his interest to Disney, they became the Anaheim Angels. He was Vice President of The American League until his death. Sadly, he never got to see his beloved Angels win the World Series. The team even retired Gene's number "26". He has a town named after him -- Gene Autry, Oklahoma. They host a festival/celebration every year. Gene died in 1998 from lymphoma.