Champion the Wonder Horse to 1953, and in the television series during the 1950s. Several other "Champion" horses were used as stunt doubles and for personal appearances throughout the years. There were three official Champions that appeared in Gene Autry films. The original Champion was a dark sorrel with a blaze face and white stockings on all his legs except the right front. The original Champion first appeared on screen with Autry in "Melody Trail" (1935) and went on to co-star in 51 additional Autry films. The horse was previously owned by Tom Mix and was used during the filming of "The Phantom Empire"
The Gene Autry Show Gene's sidekick was played by Chill Wills twice (as Chill) and by Fuzzy Knight four times (as Sagebrush). Alan Hale, Jr. played a bad guy in several episodes of Seasons 1 and 2, but he also played Gene's sidekick, Tiny, in two episodes of Season 1. By this time, Autry had established his own production company, Flying 'A' Productions, and acted as executive director for the series. The series lasted five seasons. The first four were in black and white, and the final season (thirteen episodes) was in color. Color was experimented with in two episodes of the first season.