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Dale Evans Rogers (1912 - 2001): A Biography - Page 2 of 2
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God's Call
After the wedding Republic Pictures stopped casting Dale and Roy together for
awhile, feeling that movie audiences wouldn't have an interest in a married
couple starring opposite one another. Although the studio would later change its
mind, for awhile Dale's main job was being a wife to Roy, and a
mother to his three children from his marriage to Arlene: Cheryl,
born in 1942; Linda, born in 1943; and Roy Jr., or "Dusty," born in
1946. Since Roy continued
to work long hours Dale often felt alone and frightened in her new life. For
years she had felt a pull to reexamine and cultivate her life as a Christian,
but her devotion to her career had always won out over God. Now, though, she
finally answered God's call and experienced a spiritual rebirth and a renewed,
stronger
devotion to God.
While Dale's life still held all the challenges it did before, her newfound
peace with God brought her new happiness in her life. She described her new life
and love of God as contagious, for not too long afterwards, led only by Dale's
example and without her prompting, Roy experienced a spiritual awakening of his
own. He also began a new chapter in his life by devoting his life to God.
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Above: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans |
Happiness And Heartbreak
At age 37, when Dale had been married to Roy for two years, she became
pregnant. Previously doctors had told her she would not be able to conceive without
surgery, so she and Roy were surprised but thrilled with the news. On August 26,
1950 Dale gave birth to a baby girl she and Roy named Robin Elizabeth. Their joy
was quickly tempered with fear, however, when the newborn was diagnosed with
Down's syndrome, a serious condition with numerous life-threatening
complications. Though
institutions for children like Robin were pretty much filled to capacity at the
time, their
doctors nonetheless thought that Dale and Roy's celebrity would allow them to
find an opening, and they suggested institutionalizing their baby daughter. The
Rogers' refused.
Baby Robin came home to the Rogers' household, and throughout the pain and
joy of the next two years the family came together. The trials of a very ill
child did not alienate the family from their newfound faith in God, but instead
made it stronger. The resentments the older Rogers children had toward their new
mother began to weaken and disappear as they united in love and concern for
their littlest and weakest sister. Dale recounted later that it was Robin
Elizabeth that furthered and strengthened her and Roy's belief in, and commitment
to, Christianity.
After Robin died two days short of her second birthday in 1952 Dale wrote her
first book, "Angel Unaware," about the brief life of her and Roy's daughter. She
felt that it was her job to deliver the messages taught to them by God through
the help of their little girl. "Angel Unaware" was a short book, and a difficult
one to find a publisher for. Once it was accepted by a publisher it was released
in the spring on 1953 and quickly became a bestseller.
The Roy Rogers Show
In 1951 Roy Rogers and Dale Evans made the move to television with "The Roy
Rogers Show." The show debuted on December 30, 1951 and aired new episodes until
1957. There were 100 (some sources say 104) episodes of the show, all starring
Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger, Dale Evans and her horse Buttermilk, Pat Brady
and his Jeep Nellybelle, and Bullet The Wonder Dog. The show aired on
Sunday evenings on the NBC network, and featured a Western theme with
plenty of good guys, bad guys, and action on horseback. The show was as wildly
popular as Roy and Dale's movies, and each episode was closed with the couple
singing their theme song,
"Happy Trails," which was written by Dale.
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More Rogers Children
When Dale Evans married Roy Rogers on December 31, 1947 the newlyweds had
four children between them. Dale had her son Tom, born in 1927 during her first
marriage. At age 20, Tom was already an adult when Dale and Roy were married.
Roy had three children with his wife Arlene but they were much younger: Adopted
daughter Cheryl Darlene, born in 1942; Linda Lou, born in 1943; and 15 month old
Roy Jr., or "Dusty," born in 1946.
The number of children in the Rogers household remained at three until Dale
gave birth to Robin Elizabeth in 1950. After Robin's death in 1952, the couple
was devastated but knew that they badly wanted more children. Within two months
of Robin's death Roy and Dale adopted two more children into
their home: A baby girl named Mary Doe or "Dodie," and a five-year old boy named
John David, or "Sandy." Dodie was a healthy baby girl, but Sandy had a long
history of extreme abuse and was also suffering the effects of long-term
malnutrition.
In February of 1954
Dale and Roy added another daughter to their family. They were traveling through Great Britain for personal appearances and to encourage
people to see Billy Graham who was soon scheduled to appear in London. While
visiting an orphanage in Scotland they met Marion, or "Mimi," a 13 year-old girl
that had lived in the orphanage since the age of two. Since Mimi's divorced parents
were still alive the young girl was virtually impossible to adopt, but Dale and
Roy managed to arrange for her to visit them in America. The visit was
extended several times, and Mimi eventually became Dale and Roy's legal ward and
a permanent member of their family.
The last child added to Roy and Dale's family was a little girl of mixed
Korean and Puerto Rican heritage. A Korean war orphan, she was virtually
un-adoptable in Korea because of her mixed heritage. Roy and Dale adopted her in
1955 when she was about three-and-a-half years old. They named her Deborah Lee,
or Debbie for short.
More Family Heartache
As the Rogers family matured they had many happy years before they were again
touched by tragedy, In 1964 Debbie, at the age of 12, was killed in a church bus
accident. In late 1965 heartache hit them again when Sandy, at age 19, died an
accidental death while serving in the military in Germany. Dale had already
written the bestseller "Angel Unaware" after the death of her and Roy's daughter
Robin, and she added to her successful career as an author by writing a book for
Debbie ("Dearest Debbie") and for Sandy ("Salute To Sandy"). In each case, she
donated the proceeds from the books to charity.
Author, Songwriter, Christian
In addition to her careers as a singer and actress Dale Evans was also a
successful author and songwriter. Including the three books she wrote for each
of her deceased children, she wrote approximately 20 books in all, either by
herself or as a co-author. Most of her books were inspirational, based on her
Christian faith and drawing on her own personal triumphs and tragedies. More of
her titles include "In The Hands Of The Potter," "Rainbow on a Hard Trail,"
"Woman At The Well," "Up on Melody Mountain : An Inspirational Story of Peace &
Joy Through Hardship," and an autobiography with her husband Roy Rogers, "Happy
Trails, Our Life Story."
Dale was also a gifted and successful songwriter. Among many others she wrote the gospel standard "The Bible Tells Me So," the top-selling
"Aha, San Antone,” the Western classic "Hazy Mountains," and the theme
song so identified with herself and Roy Rogers, "Happy Trails."
Throughout the latter part of her life Dale Evans was also a hard working evangelical Christian. She was a highly popular
speaker and tireless volunteer for numerous Christian groups, and from 1996 until her death in 2001 she also starred in her own television program
on a Christian television network, "A Date With Dale." Her devotion to
God and spreading His word was one of the greatest accomplishments
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Above: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans |
Happy Trails
In 1967 Dale and
Roy opened the
Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in a renovated bowling alley in Apple Valley,
California. They filled the museum with highly personal
mementos from both of their personal lives and their careers. The museum was very popular, and in 1976 they moved it
to a bigger building in nearby Victorville, California. She and Roy often walked
around the museum in the mornings before it opened to the public, enjoying the
history of their lives.
Dale battled numerous health obstacles in her later years including diabetes
(which she was diagnosed with in 1964), a heart attack in 1992, and a stroke in
1996. Her beloved husband and partner of more than 50 years, Roy Rogers, passed
away on July 6, 1998, at the age of 86. Dale herself passed away on on February
7, 2001 at the age of 88.
In 2003 the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans museum was moved from Victorville, California to Branson, Missouri.
Dale's horse Buttermilk was mounted after his death and can still be seen there,
as can Roy's horse Trigger, and Bullet The Wonder Dog (who starred in "The Roy
Rogers Show" and was also a Rogers family pet). The museum, a personal glimpse into
to the lives of Dale, Roy, and their family, remains a popular attraction.
<<< Dale Evans' Biography, Page 1 of 2 •
Dale Evans' Biography, Page 2 of 2 (you are here)
Dale Evans Rogers
- Birth / Death
- Birth: October 31, 1912, Uvalde, TX
- Death:
February 7, 2001, Apple Valley, California (congestive heart failure)
- Names
- Name at birth: Frances Octavia Smith.
Note: From an early age Dale Evans had used an affidavit provided
by her parents as the official information of her date of birth and name
at birth. When the affidavit was lost Dale requested a copy of her birth
certificate from the Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics. She was surprised
to see that her birth
certificate gave her birth date as one day earlier than on the affidavit (October 30, 1912
instead of October 31, 1912) and her birth name
as Lucille Wood Smith instead of Frances Octavia Smith. Her mother insisted that the birth
certificate was incorrect. The information on the affidavit (October 31,
1912 and Frances Octavia Smith) has come to be recognized as her
official birth date and name.
- Professional names: Frances Fox, Mary Lee, Dale Evans, Dale Evans
Rogers
- Nickname: "Queen Of The West"
- Parents
- Walter and Betty Sue Smith
- Siblings
- A younger brother, Hillman, three years younger than Dale
- Marriages
- Thomas Frederick Fox, 1927 - 1929 (divorced). One son.
- Robert Dale Butts, 1937 - 1945 (some sources say 1946) (divorced). No children.
- Roy Rogers, 1947 - 1998 (Roy's death). Eight children including Roy's
three children from a previous marriage.
- Children
- With husband Thomas Fox:
- One son, Thomas Fox Jr., born in 1927.
- With husband Robert Butts: None
- With husband Roy Rogers:
- Stepmother to Roy's children Cheryl Darlene (born 1942), Linda Lou
(born in 1943) , and Roy Rogers Jr.
("Dusty," born in 1946).
- Birth mother of Robin Elizabeth, who was born in 1950. Robin died in 1952
two days short of her second birthday due
to complications from Down’s syndrome.
- Adoptive mother of Mary Little Doe, or "Dodie." Born in 1952 Dodie was
adopted by Dale and Roy while a toddler.
- Adoptive mother of John David, or "Sandy." Born in 1946, Sandy
was adopted by Roy and Dale in 1952 as a young boy with a history of family
abuse. Sandy died in 1965 from
accidental death while serving in the U.S.
military in Germany.
- Foster mother of Marion, or "Mimi," who was from Scotland. While traveling
on a tour throughout Europe in early 1954, Dale and Roy met Marion in a Scottish
orphanage. She was 13 years old at the time and had lived at the orphanage since
the age of two when her parents had been divorced. Both her parents were still
alive and
British law made a child with living parents virtually un-adoptable. After the
Rogers' returned home they arranged for Mimi to come to America to stay with
them for a visit that was extended several times. She eventually became
their legal ward and a permanent member of their family.
- Adoptive mother of Deborah Lee or "Debbie," a Korean war orphan
who was about three-and-a-half years old when adopted by Dale and Roy
in 1955. Debbie was part Korean and part Puerto Rican and considered
un-adoptable in her homeland due to her mixed heritage. Debbie was killed in 1964 at age 12 in a church bus
accident.
- Awards / Honors
- 1953 - Golden Apple Award for Most Cooperative Actress.
- 1967 - California Mother of the Year.
- 1970 - The Texas Press Association’s Texan of the Year.
- 1976 - Inducted, along with Roy Rogers, into the Hall of Great Western
Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma.
- 1983 - Golden Boot. The Golden Boot Awards honor actors, actresses, and
others that have made significant contributions to Western movies and
television. 1983 was the first year the awards were given, making Dale one
of their first honorees. Among the other honorees that year was her husband,
Roy Rogers.
- 1992 - Inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame.
- 1995 - Inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.
- 1995 - Cardinal Terence Cook Humanities Award.
- 2000 - Inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall Of Fame in Carthage,
Texas. The Texas Country Music Hall Of Fame honors singers, songwriters, and
others who were born in Texas and that have made outstanding contributions
to country music.
- 2000 - Founder's Award. The Founder's Award is given by the Motion
Picture and Television Fund Foundation.
- Two stars (for radio and television) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Some
sources say Dale has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but we were
unable to find information on the third star.
- General
- Before her first screen test Dale's agent told her to subtract seven years off
her age and to introduce her
son Tom (that she gave birth to in 1927 at age 15) as her younger brother. She
experienced great anguish over the deception about Tom, and was relieved several
years later when a Hollywood
columnist discovered the truth.
- Dale Evans wrote many popular and successful songs, including her and Roy's
theme song "Happy Trails." There is a popular story that Dale wrote
the song on the back of an envelope in 1950, less than an hour before she and
Roy sang it on the radio for the first time. However, in the autobiography she
wrote with Roy, "Happy Trails, Our Life Story," she writes that she wrote the
song while at home one day. Either way, the song became an enduring classic for her
and Roy.
- In the spring of 1953 Dale's book "Angel Unaware" was released. The book was
about the brief life of her and Roy's daughter, Robin Elizabeth, who was
diagnosed with Down's syndrome at birth and died two days short of her second
birthday. At a personal appearance in Madison Square Garden the fall after the
book was released Dale and
Roy noticed that the seats packed with children held more disabled and
handicapped children than they had ever seen at one of their performances
before. They were thrilled that the book had encouraged parents to bring their
own special children out to the public event, something that wasn't often done
at the time.
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