Roy Rogers

Leonard Franklin Slye (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), became famous as Roy Rogers, a singer and cowboy actor. He and his second wife Dale Evans, his "golden palomino" Trigger

Leonard Franklin Slye (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), became famous as Roy Rogers, a singer and cowboy actor. He and his second wife Dale Evans, his "golden palomino" Trigger and his German shepherd "Bullet" were featured in over one hundred movies and The Roy Rogers Show which ran on radio for nine years before moving to television from 1951 through 1964. His productions usually featured two sidekicks, Pat Brady (who drove a jeep called "Nellybelle") and the crotchety bushwhacker Gabby Hayes. Roy's nickname was "King of the Cowboys". Dale's nickname was "Queen of the West." For many Americans (and non-Americans), he was the embodiment of the all-American hero.

Rogers was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his family lived on a house boat docked on the Ohio River. They later moved the houseboat up the river to Portsmouth, Ohio. The house boat was destroyed in the flood of 1913 and the Slye family moved to Lucasville just north of Portsmouth where Leonard spent his boyhood.