Champion the Wonder Horse series; he was one of several horses that Autry rode in that production. After learning about the horse through stunt man and movie horse wrangler Tracey Layne, Autry paid $75 for the original Champion, whose sire was a Morgan trotting horse from Ardmore, Oklahoma. Trained to perform numerous tricks, Champion could untie knots, fall, roll over and play dead, come at Autry's whistle, bow, and shake his head yes and no. In one film he pushes Autry into the arms of his leading lady June Storey. By 1939 his reported worth was $25,000. The original Champion died in 1943, at
Gene Autry The Cowboy Code consisted of rules that were "a natural progression of Gene's philosophies going back to his first "Melody Ranch" programs—and early pictures." According to the code: Beginning in 1950, he produced and starred in his own television show on CBS through his Flying A Productions studio and made several appearances on ABC-TV's "Jubilee USA" in the late 1950s. During World War II, Autry enlisted in the United States Army in 1942, and became a tech sergeant in the United States Army Air Forces. Holding a private pilot certificate, he was determined to become a military pilot and earned