Reel Cowboys of the Santa Susanas -- Tex Ritter

Tex Ritter (1905-1974) was an American country music singer and B-Western cowboy actor from the mid-1930s to the 1960s.  Ritter was a pioneer in country music who performed on radio shows in the late 1920s and early 1930s.  He began recording for American Record Company (Columbia Records) in 1933.

In 1936 he moved to Los Angeles and broke into movies starring in twelve B-Westerns for Grand National Pictures.  Later he moved to Universal Pictures and teamed with Johnny Mack Brown.  After Universal developed financial difficulties he moved to Producers Releasing Corporation as "Texas Ranger Tex Haines" for eight features between 1944 and 1945. Ritter did not return to acting until 1950, playing mostly supporting roles or himself.

At the first televised Academy Awards ceremony in 1953, he sang "High Noon", which received an Oscar for Best Song in High Noon (1952).  Throughout the 1950s and 1960s he performed on various radio and television shows as well as touring.  For his contribution to the recording industry, Ritter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Tex Ritter's Santa Susana locations filmography:

Arizona Days (1937) starring Tex Ritter, Syd Saylor and William Faversham - Grand National Pictures

Arizona Trail (1943) starring Tex Ritter, Fuzzy Knight and Dennis Moore (Corriganville) Universal

Cheyenne Roundup (1943) starring Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter and Fuzzy Knight - Universal

Dead or Alive (1944) starring Tex Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson (Corriganville) PRC

Deep in the Heart of Texas (1942) starring Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter, Fuzzy Knight (Corriganville) Universal

The Devil's Trail (1942) starring Bill Elliott, Tex Ritter and Eileen O'Hearn (lobby photo courtesy of Bruce Hickey) Columbia

Enemy of the Law (1945) starring Tex Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson (Corriganville) PRC

Flaming Bullets (1945) starring Tex Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson (Corriganville)(lobby photo courtesy of Bruce Hickey) PRC

Frontier Fugitives (1945) starring Tex Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson (Corriganville) PRC

Gangsters of the Frontier (1944) starring Tex Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson (Corriganville) PRC

King of Dodge City (1941) starring Tex Ritter, Bill Elliott and Judith Linden - Columbia

Little Joe, the Wrangler (1942) starring Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter and Fuzzy Knight - Universal

Lone Star Trail (1943) starring Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter and Fuzzy Knight - Universal

Lone Star Vigilantes (1942) starring Bill Elliott, Tex Ritter and Frank Mitchell (Corriganville) Columbia

Marked for Murder (1945) starring Tex Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson (Corriganville) PRC

Marshal of Gunsmoke (1944) starring Tex Ritter, Russell Hayden and Fuzzy Knight (photo courtesy of Bruce Hickey) Universal

North of the Rockies (1942) starring Tex Ritter, Lloyd Bridges and Bill Elliott - Columbia

Oklahoma Raiders (1944) starring Tex Ritter, Fuzzy Knight and Dennis Moore (Iverson Ranch) Universal

Prairie Gunsmoke (1942) starring Tex Ritter, Bill Elliott and Frank Mitchell (Iverson Ranch)(lobby photo courtesy of Bruce Hickey) Columbia

Raiders of San Joaquin (1943) starring Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter and Fuzzy Knight (Corriganville) Universal

Roaring Frontiers (1941) starring Tex Ritter, Bill Elliott and Ruth Ford (Corriganville) Columbia

Rollin' Plains (1938) starring Tex Ritter, Karl Hackett and White Flash (lobby photo courtesy of Bruce Hickey) Grand National

Starlight Over Texas (1938) starring Tex Ritter, Salvatore Damino and Carmen Laroux (Corriganville) Monogram

Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground (1943) starring Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter and Fuzzy Knight - Universal

Three in the Saddle (1945) starring Tex Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson (photo courtesy of Bruce Hickey) PRC

Utah Trail (1938) starring Tex Ritter, White Flash and Horace Murphy (Chatsworth Trains) Grand National

Vengeance of the West (1942) starring Tex Ritter, Bill Elliott and Frank Mitchell (Iverson Ranch) Columbia

The Whispering Skull (1944) starring Tex Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson - PRC

'Reel Cowboys of the Santa Susanas' is a continuing series about "six-gun heroes that performed on movie location ranches in Chatsworth, California.  For more information about Chatsworth filming locations see http://www.cowboyup.com/ to find information about my books: Rendezvous at Boulder Pass: Hollywood's Fantasyland - 2010 and Reel Cowboys of the Santa Susanas - 2008.