Jimmy Wakely... Jimmy Wakely (born James Clarence Wakeley) (February 16, 1914, died September 23, 1982) was an American Country-Western singer and actor, one of the last crooning cowpokes following the Second World War. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he made several Country-Western recordings, appeared in several B-Western movies with most of the major studios, appeared on radio and television, and even had his own series of comic books. For his work for recording, Wakely has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1680 Vine Street. James Clarence Wakeley was born in Mineola, Howard County, Arkansas on February 16, 1914 to Major Anderson Wakeley and Caroline (or Carolin) "Cali" Wakeley (nee Burgess). As a teenager, he changed James to Jimmy and his last name to Wakely, dropping the second "e". In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1937, Wakely formed "the Bell Boys", a Country-Western singing group named after their Bell Clothing sponsor. The group performed locally, made some recordings, and did frequent radio broadcasts over Oklahoma City's WKY. Johnny Bond, Dick Reinhart, Scotty Harrell and Jack Cheney were members of the Bell Boys and later groups] Over time, Wakely's groups were known as The Jimmy Wakely Trio, Jimmy Wakely and His Saddle Pals, Jimmy Wakely Trio and James Wakely. During a tour through Oklahoma, Western movie star Gene Autry invited Wakely to come to California. Autry felt the group might be a good addition to his new "Melody Ranch" radio show which debuted on CBS in January, 1940. The Wakely Trio joined the show in mid-1940. Jimmy stayed a couple of years, then left because of movie commitments and a recording contract with Decca Records that ran from 1941-1942 through 1947. Johnny Bond stayed with the show for most of its run (the show left the air in 1956). In 1939, Wakely made his screen debut (with the Jimmy Wakely Trio) in a Roy Rogers Western, Saga of Death Valley. In the 1940s, Wakely groups provided songs and musical support for several B-western movies, including appearances with: The Range Busters at Monogram Pictures Don "Red" Barry at Republic Pictures Johnny Mack Brown and Tex Ritter at Universal Pictures Charles Starrett at Columbia Pictures Hopalong Cassidy at Paramount Pictures. Interestingly, he made only one Autry film, Heart of the Rio Grande at Republic in 1942. Jimmy appeared in 28 Westerns at Monogram between 1944 and 1949 and also appeared in some non-westerns including I'm from Arkansas in 1944, which is a showcase for a bunch of country and hillbilly performers that bring their comedy, tunes and yodelin' to Pitchfork, Arkansas. Jimmy Wakely was sometimes referred to as a low-budget Autry in films. His comment on this was: "Everybody reminds somebody of someone else until they are somebody. And I had rather be compared to Gene Autry than anyone else. Through the grace of God and Gene Autry, I got a career." Similar to other Western film stars of that era, Jimmy Wakely had his own comic book series. DC Comics produced between 1949 and July-August 1952, billing him as "HOLLYWOOD'S SENSATIONAL COWBOY STAR!". In addition to Autry's "Melody Ranch", he had his own radio show on CBS and co-hosted other shows. He also made several appearances on television variety shows. In his later years, Wakely performed at the Grand Ole Opry and the National Barn Dance. His nightclub act visited Las Vegas, Reno and other venues and Jimmy did a Christmas USO Tour with Bob Hope. He also made appearances at western film nostalgia conventions and continued with personal appearances and stage shows, often with his daughter Linda and son Johnny in the act. After contracting emphysema, Wakely died of heart failure at Mission Hills, California on September 23, 1982. He and his wife, who died in 1997, are interred next to each other in the Court of Remembrance at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California. -From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia- You can learn more about Jimmy Wakely by visiting Wikipedia-the free encyclopedia website. Just click here > Jimmy Wakely

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