Tex Ritter

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Tex Ritter
Ritter in May 1966
Background information
Birth name	Woodward Maurice Ritter
Born	(1905-01-12)January 12, 1905 Murvaul, Texas, U.S.
Died	January 2, 1974(1974-01-02) (aged 68) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor
Instruments	vocals, guitar
Years active	1928–1973
Labels	Columbia, Decca, Capitol

Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was an American country music singer and actor popular from the mid 1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and Tyler, and granddaughter Carly). He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Early life[]

Tex Ritter was born Woodward Maurice Ritter on January 12, 1905, in Murvaul, Texas,^[1] the son of Martha Elizabeth (née Matthews) and James Everett Ritter. He grew up on his family's farm in Panola County, Texas, and attended grade school in Carthage, Texas. He attended South Park High School in Beaumont, Texas. After graduating with honors, he entered the University of Texas at Austin in 1922^[2] to study pre-law and major in government, political science, and economics. After traveling to Chicago with a musical troupe, he entered Northwestern Law School.^[1]

Career[]

Radio and Broadway[]

An early pioneer of country music, Ritter soon became interested in show business. In 1928, he sang on KPRC-AM in Houston, Texas,^[3] a 30-minute program of mostly cowboy songs. That same year, he moved to New York City and landed a job in the men's chorus of the Broadway show The New Moon (1928). He appeared as cowboy Cord Elam in the Broadway production Green Grow the Lilacs (1931),^[2] the basis for the musical Oklahoma! He also played the part of Sagebrush Charlie in The Round Up (1932)^[4] and Mother Lode (1934).

In 1932, he starred in New York City's first broadcast Western, The Lone Star Rangers on WOR-AM, where he sang and told tales of the Old West. Ritter wrote and starred in Cowboy Tom's Roundup on WINS-AM in 1933, a daily children's cowboy program aired over two other East Coast stations for three years. He also performed on the radio show WHN Barndance and sang on NBC Radio shows; and appeared in several radio dramas, including CBS's Bobby Benson's Adventures.^[5]

Movies[]

In 1936, Ritter moved to Los Angeles. His motion picture debut was in Song of the Gringo (1936) for Grand National Pictures.^[2] He went on to appear in 70 movies as an actor, and 76 on movie soundtracks. He attracted special attention in 1952 for his rendition of "The Ballad of High Noon" over the opening credits of the celebrated film High Noon, and later sang it at that year's Academy Awards ceremony, where it won Best Original Song.

Recording[]

Ritter's recording career was his most successful period. He was the first artist signed with the newly formed Capitol Records.^[1]

In 1944, he scored a hit with "I'm Wastin' My Tears on You", which hit number one on the country chart and number 11 on the pop chart. An article in the trade publication Billboard noted 14 years later that with that song, he "reached the style of rhythmic tune that would assure his musical stature".^[6]

In 1952 Ritter recorded "The Ballad of High Noon" for the film High Noon. He performed the track at the first televised Academy Awards ceremony in 1953, and it received an Oscar for Best Song that year.^[7]

Television[]

When television began to compete with movies for American audiences Ritter began to make appearances on the new medium. His first was in 1955, following 71 straight movie appearances, and his last in 1965, followed by five final film roles. He also appeared on 12 television soundtracks.

Later work[]

Ritter became one of the founding members of the Country Music Association in Nashville, Tennessee, and spearheaded the effort to build the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum into which he was inducted in 1964.^[2]

He moved to Nashville in 1965 and began working for WSM Radio and the Grand Ole Opry, earning a lifetime membership in the latter in 1970.^[2]

Personal life[]

Ritter's grave marker in Port Neches in Jefferson County, Texas

Ritter had a heart attack and died in Nashville in 1974, 10 days before his 69th birthday. He was survived by his wife and two sons, one a popular actor John. Following the death of his son John at the age of 54 from an aortic dissection in 2003, the family now believes that Tex died of it as well, as the condition appears to run in the family.^[8]

Legacy[]

For his contribution to the recording industry, Ritter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6631 Hollywood Boulevard.^[9] In 1980, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame^[10] at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was a member of the charter group of inductees into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, in 1998.^[11]

In 1986, Ritter was honored posthumously with a Golden Boot Award for his work in Western films.^[12]

Selected filmography[]

Discography[]

Albums[]

Singles[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tex Ritter.

• Tex Ritter at IMDb
• Tex Ritter at the Internet Broadway Database
• Tex Ritter at The Old Corral (a reference guide for B-Westerns)
• Tex Ritter at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Tex Ritter Museum – Carthage, Texas
• Tex Ritter / Edward Finney Collection at the Autry Museum of the American West
• "Tex Ritter". Find a Grave. Retrieved November 21, 2013.