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 filmography Hughs in 3 films, June Storey in 10 films, Fay McKenzie in 5 films, ad Gail Davis in 14 films and 15 television episodes. One of the most important components of Autry's films was the comic relief provided by his sidekicks. Smiley Burnette co-starred in 60 Autry films, Sterling Holloway in 5 films, and Pat Buttramin in 16 films and 83 television episodes. In his book "Singing in the Saddle", author Douglas B. Green wrote that Autry had a profound impact on the western genre film, and that his early "pioneering films" heralded the musical western genre, which from that