Happy Birthday: Roy Rogers (1911–1998)

Roy Rogers (1911–1998)

Born: November 5, 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Died: July 6, 1998 (age 86) in Apple Valley, California, USA

Married to:
Dale Evans (31 December 1947 – 6 July 1998) (his death)
Grace Arline Wilkins (11 June 1936 – 3 November 1946) (her death) (3 children)
Lucile Ascolese (8 May 1933 – 8 June 1936) (divorced)

In his autobiography, “Happy Trails: The Story of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans,” the former Leonard Slye stated that his stage name of Roy Rogers was given to him by executives at Republic Pictures when he became their new singing cowboy to replace Gene Autry. The Rogers came from Will Rogers, the beloved western comic and storyteller who had recently died in a plane crash in Alaska and Roy was made the first name because it is the French word for “king,” as in “Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys.” Roy said he had no input at all in the renaming decision.